Recombinant production of human calcitonin receptor polypeptides

ABSTRACT

Human calcitonin receptors have been cloned, sequenced and expressed by recombinant means. The receptors and antibodies thereto may be used in screening systems to identify agonists and antagonists of human calcitonin receptors, thereby providing means for treating and preventing abnormal bone resorption, as well as in methods of diagnosis.

RELATED CASES

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 08/100,887, filed Aug. 2,1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S.Ser. No. 07/954,804, filed Sep. 30, 1992, now abandoned, which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Bone is a dynamic tissue, and homeostasis requires a balance between theformation of new bone and the resorption of previously formed bone.Calcitonin, a peptide hormone secreted by the thyroid and thymus, playsan important role in maintaining bone homeostasis. Calcitonin binds toosteoclasts, cells in the bone tissue which mediate bone resorption.Calcitonin immobilizes osteoclasts, thus inhibiting bone resorption witha resultant decrease in the amount of calcium released by bone into theserum. The inhibition of bone resorption has been exploited by usingcalcitonin as a treatment for osteoporosis.

The calcitonin receptor is believed to be a member of the G-proteincoupled receptor family. It has been demonstrated that activation of thereceptor results in stimulation of two independent intracellularpathways, the cyclic AMP and inositol triphosphate pathways (Chabre etal., Molec. Endocrin. 6(4):551-556, 1992). The cloning of theparathyroid hormone, porcine calcitonin, secretin and glucagon receptorshas established the possibility that a new family of G protein-coupledreceptors exists. These receptors show little homology to the previouslyknown G protein coupled receptors that included the beta adrenergicreceptor, the serotonin receptor and the glutamate receptors.

At the present time, salmon calcitonin is preferred over humancalcitonin for treatment of osteoporosis. The worldwide market forsalmon calcitonin exceeds $500 million annually. Salmon calcitonin hasbeen shown to be considerably more effective in arresting boneresorption than human forms of calcitonin. There are several hypothesesfor why salmon calcitonin is more potent than human calcitonin intreatment for osteoporosis. These hypotheses include: 1) salmoncalcitonin is more resistant to degradation, 2) salmon calcitonin has alower metabolic clearance rate (MCR) and 3) salmon calcitonin may have aslightly different conformation, resulting in a higher affinity for bonereceptor sites.

Despite the advantages associated with the use of salmon calcitonin fortreatment of osteoporosis in humans, there are also disadvantages. Theaverage cost can exceed $200 per month, and treatment involvesprophylactic administration for 5 or more years. Another problem isthat, in the United States, calcitonin must be administered byinjection. In addition, some patients develop antibodies to non-humancalcitonin. Therefore, new analogs of salmon or human calcitonin thatare potent inhibitors of bone resorption, less expensive, moreconvenient to administer and non-immunogenic are needed.

The discovery and testing of possible compounds for use as calcitoninanalogs require high through-put screening systems. Such a system wouldpreferably use a cellular target, such as a cultured cell linecontaining high levels of the appropriate calcitonin receptor, toidentify and measure responses to putative analogs. Quite surprisingly,the present invention provides human calcitonin receptors for use inscreening systems for identifying calcitonin analogs, and fulfills otherrelated needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides isolated and substantially purepreparations of human calcitonin receptor, recombinant human calcitoninreceptor, and polypeptide fragments thereof. Within certain embodimentsthe receptors are coupled to a G protein in vertebrate cells, bindcalcitonin and thereby activate adenylate cyclase, and are capable ofstimulating inositol phosphate metabolism. Within other embodiments, thereceptors are in a truncated form. Having provided such recombinantreceptors in isolated and purified form, the invention also providesmonoclonal antibodies to the receptors, the calcitonin binding domains,and other fragments.

In another aspect the invention provides the ability to produce humancalcitonin receptors and polypeptides or fragments thereof byrecombinant means, preferably in cultured eukaryotic cells. Theexpressed receptors or fragments may or may not have the biologicalactivity of native receptor, and may or may not be coupled to a Gprotein in the cell used for expression. Accordingly, isolated andpurified polynucleotides are described which code for human calcitoninreceptors and fragments thereof, where the polynucleotides may be in theform of DNA, such as cDNA, or RNA. Based on these sequences probes maybe used to hybridize and identify the human calcitonin receptor gene.The probes may be full length cDNA or as small as from 14 to 25nucleotide, more often though from about 40 to about 50 or morenucleotides.

In related embodiments the invention concerns DNA constructs whichcomprise a transcriptional promoter, a DNA sequence which encodes thehuman calcitonin receptor or fragment, and a transcriptional terminator,each operably linked for expression of the receptor. For expression theconstruct may also contain at least one signal sequence. The constructsare used to transform or transfect host cells, preferably mammaliancells and more preferably those which do not express substantial amountsof endogenous calcitonin receptor. When bound by an appropriate ligandsuch as calcitonin, the receptor may activate adenylate cyclase in thehost cell via coupling to G protein. Further, for large scale productionthe expressed receptor may also be isolated from the cells by, forexample, affinity purification.

Cells which express human calcitonin receptor can be used to identifycompounds which can alter the calcitonin receptor-mediated metabolism ofa eukaryotic cell. Compounds may be screened for binding to thereceptor, and/or for effecting a change in receptor-mediated metabolismin the host cell. Agonists and/or antagonists of the receptors may alsobe screened in cell-free systems using purified receptors or bindingfragments thereof for the effect on ligand-receptor interaction, orusing reconstituted systems such as micelles, which also provide theability to assess metabolic changes. The compounds identified accordingto the invention can serve as lead compounds for subsequent developmentor screening of drugs useful in the treatment and prevention of boneresorption related disorders, such as osteoporosis, Paget's disease, andthe like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates the amino acid sequence of a human calcitoninreceptor (Seq. ID No. 1), with putative transmembrane domains overlined;

FIG. 2 is the vector ZEM1698;

FIG. 3 illustrates the results of a luciferase induction assay for a BHKcell line transfected to express a human calcitonin receptor, wherecells were treated with human calcitonin (HcT), salmon calcitonin (ScT)or human CGRP (CGRP); and

FIG. 4 illustrates the results of a luciferase induction assay for a BHKcell line transfected to express a human calcitonin receptor, wherecells were treated with human calcitonin (HcT), salmon calcitonin (ScT)or human CGRP (CGRP).

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The present invention presents the means to identify agonists andantagonists of the human calcitonin receptor-ligand interaction byproviding isolated human calcitonin receptor molecules, recombinanthuman calcitonin receptor and the isolated polynucleotide sequenceswhich encode the receptors. The term "human calcitonin receptor" refersto any protein which shares significant structural and functionalhomology with the calcitonin receptor set forth in the amino acidsequence of FIG. 1. Such a receptor may result when regions of arecombinantly prepared human calcitonin receptor are deleted or replacedin such a manner as to yield a protein having a similar function.Substantially homologous sequences, allelic variations, and naturalmutants; induced point, deletion, and insertion mutants andalternatively expressed variants are also included. As used herein,substantially homologous means sequences which are at least 80%,preferably at least 90%, and more preferably 95% or more identical tosequences of the human cDNA sequences shown in Seq. ID No. 1. Theessential functional aspects of the calcitonin receptor are that wheninserted into a plasma membrane it is capable of binding humancalcitonin, and that it is capable of initiating a cellular response inresponse to that binding.

Variants of the calcitonin receptor may be truncated, resulting in areceptor that binds human calcitonin but does not initiate a cellularresponse. The essential functional requirement of such a receptorvariant is that it contain a ligand-binding domain capable of bindingcalcitonin.

Variants of the calcitonin receptor include variants having insertionslocated in a DNA sequence immediately following the first transmembraneregion. While not wanting to bound by theory, certain of these variantsmay function as soluble forms of the calcitonin receptor. Soluble formsof other predominately transmembrane receptors have been foundpreviously. For example, the luteinizing hormone receptor, a member ofthe seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor family, has beenshown to bind ligand in a truncated form that comprises only theextracellular domain of the receptor (Tsai-Morris et al. J. Biol. Chem.265(32):19385-19388, 1990). It has been postulated that the truncatedform of a receptor could bind ligand and affect the concentration ofhormone available for interaction with target cells expressing themembrane-bound receptor.

Other receptor variants having insertions after the first transmembraneregion are believed to remain anchored in the membrane but affect thesignal transduction properties within the cell. In the case where theinsertion results in a truncated variant of the receptor but thereceptor remains membrane-bound, the intracellular signalling propertyof the receptor-ligand complex is essentially eliminated. A receptorwithout signal transducing capacity would serve a function similar to asoluble receptor, that is to alter the concentration of hormone thatbinds to signal transducing receptors without initiating a response inthe intracellular signalling pathway and thereby limit the effect ofligand on the cell.

In the case where the variant receptor does not result in a truncatedreceptor, insertions may alter the cytoplasmic loop, the regioncorrelated to interaction of the G protein-coupled receptor and Gprotein (Iismaa et al., Curr. Opinion Cell Biol. 4:195:202, 1992).Changes in the coupling of the G protein to the receptor affect thesecond messenger pathway by altering intracellular levels of cAMP,inositol triphosphate or calcium and ultimately can affect bonehomeostasis. Specific tissues have been found to express receptorsubtypes with different signal transduction properties. For example,metabotropic glutamate receptors include at least five differentsubtypes of receptors having varying effects on second messengers levels(Schoepp et al., TiPS 14:13-20, 1993). Metabotropic glutamate receptorsubtypes have been isolated from a variety of different tissuesincluding heart, lacrimal glands, intestine, trachea and hippocampus(Bonner, TIPS, Suppl.11-15, 1989). Another instance where variantreceptor subtypes may be preferentially expressed is in response tochanges in the extracellular environment. The expression of the variantreceptors result in changes in the cell's response to ligand. Forexample, many patients given long term treatment with calcitonin becomeresistant to the effects of the drug. In approximately 50% of thesecases resistance is not accompanied with antibody formation (TheCalcitonins: Physiology and Pharmacology, Azria ed. Karger, Basel, Su.,1989) and while such resistance is not clearly understood, it has beenpostulated that the long term exposure to increased levels of calcitoninmay induce the expression of an alternative receptor subtype and thuschange the cell's responsiveness to calcitonin. The calcitonin receptorsand variants of the present invention provide valuable tools forstudying cellular responses to calcitonin under a variety of conditionsand for identifying compounds that regulate calcitonin-responsivecellular pathways.

By human calcitonin receptor "ligand" is meant a molecule capable ofbeing bound by the ligand-binding domain of human calcitonin receptor, ahuman calcitonin receptor analog, or chimeric human calcitonin receptoras generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,609, incorporated byreference herein. The ligand may be chemically synthesized or may occurin nature, such as human or salmon calcitonin. Ligands may be groupedinto agonists and antagonists. Agonists are those molecules whosebinding to a receptor induces the response pathway within a cell.Antagonists are those molecules whose binding to a receptor blocks theinduction of a response pathway within a cell.

"Isolated" human calcitonin receptor is meant to refer to humancalcitonin receptor which is in other than its native environment suchas an osteoclast, renal cell, lymphocyte, etc., including, for example,substantially pure human calcitonin receptor as defined hereinbelow.More generally, isolated is meant to include human calcitonin receptoras a heterologous component of a cell or other system. For example,human calcitonin receptor may be expressed by a cell transfected with aDNA construct which encodes human calcitonin receptor, separated fromthe cell and added to micelles which contain other selected receptors.In another example described below, human calcitonin receptor isexpressed by a cell which has been co-transfected with a gene encodingluciferase. Thus, in this context, the environment of isolated humancalcitonin receptor is not as it occurs in its native state,particularly when it is present in a system as an exogenous component.

The invention provides cloned human calcitonin receptor coding sequenceswhich are capable of expressing the human calcitonin receptor protein.Complementary DNA encoding human calcitonin receptor may be obtained byconstructing a cDNA library from mRNA obtained from, for example,osteoclasts, breast carcinoma cells which are known to express thereceptor, such as T-47D described hereinbelow, etc. The library may bescreened with a labeled complementary oligonucleotide probe.Alternatively, the library may be screened by transcribing the libraryand injecting the resulting mRNA into appropriate eucaryotic cells anddetecting, by functional assays, those transfected cells which expressthe human calcitonin receptor.

The present invention relates to successfully isolating cDNA encoding ahuman calcitonin receptor. With the human calcitonin receptor and cDNAclones thereof provided herein, nucleotide and amino acid sequences maybe determined by conventional means, such as by dideoxy sequencing. Seegenerally, Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2ded., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.,1989, incorporated by reference herein. Based on the sequences hereinprovided, genomic or cDNA sequences encoding human calcitonin receptormay be obtained from libraries prepared from human cell sourcesaccording to well known procedures. For instance, using oligonucleotideprobes from human calcitonin receptor, such as whole length cDNA orshorter probes of at least about fourteen nucleotides to twenty-five ormore nucleotides in length; often as many as 40 to 50 nucleotides, DNAsequences encoding other human calcitonin receptor subtypes may beobtained. If partial clones are obtained, it is necessary to join themin proper reading frame to produce a full length clone, using suchtechniques as endonuclease cleavage, ligation and loopout mutagenesis.

A DNA sequence encoding human calcitonin receptor is inserted into asuitable expression vector, which in turn is used to transfecteukaryotic cells. Expression vectors for use in carrying out the presentinvention will comprise a promoter capable of directing thetranscription of a cloned DNA and a transcriptional terminator.

To direct proteins of the present invention for transport to the plasmamembrane, at least one signal sequence is operably linked to the DNAsequence of interest. The signal sequence may be derived from the humancalcitonin receptor coding sequence, from other signal sequencesdescribed in the art, or synthesized de novo.

Host cells for use in practicing the present invention includemammalian, avian, plant, insect and fungal cells, but preferablymammalian cells. Fungal cells, including species of yeast (e.g.,Saccharomyces spp., particularly S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomycesspp.) or filamentous fungi (e.g., Aspergillus spp., Neurospora spp.) maybe used as host cells within the present invention. Suitable yeastvectors for use in the present invention include YRp7 (Struhl et al.,Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76: 1035-1039, 1978), YEp13 (Broach et al.,Gene 8: 121-133, 1979), POT vectors (Kawasaki et al, U.S. Pat. No.4,931,373, which is incorporated by reference herein), pJDB249 andpJDB219 (Beggs, Nature 275:104-108, 1978) and derivatives thereof. Suchvectors will generally include a selectable marker, which may be one ofany number of genes that exhibit a dominant phenotype for which aphenotypic assay exists to enable transformants to be selected.Preferred selectable markers are those that complement host cellauxotrophy, provide antibiotic resistance or enable a cell to utilizespecific carbon sources, and include LEU2 (Broach et al., ibid.), URA3(Botstein et al., Gene 8: 17, 1979), HIS3 (Struhl et al., ibid.) or POT1(Kawasaki et al., ibid.). Another suitable selectable marker is the CATgene, which confers chloramphenicol resistance to yeast cells.

Additional vectors, promoters and terminators which can be used inexpressing the receptors of the invention in yeast are known in the artand are reviewed by, for example, Emr (Meth. Enzymol. 185:231-279,1990), incorporated herein by reference. The receptors of the inventionmay be expressed in Aspergillus spp. (McKnight and Upshall, described inU.S. Pat. No. 4,935,349, which is incorporated herein by reference).Useful promoters include those derived from Aspergillus nidulansglycolytic genes, such as the ADH3 promoter (McKnight et al., EMBO J.4:2093-2099, 1985) and the tpiA promoter. An example of a suitableterminator is the ADH3 terminator (McKnight et al., ibid.). Techniquesfor transforming fungi are well known in the literature, and have beendescribed, for instance by Beggs (ibid.), Hinnen et al. (Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA 75:1929-1933, 1978), Yelton et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 81:1740-1747, 1984), and Russell (Nature 301:167-169, 1983)each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

A variety of higher eukaryotic cells may serve as host cells forexpression of the human calcitonin receptor. Cultured mammalian cells,such as BHK, N1E-115 (Liles et al., J. Biol. Chem. 261:5307-5313, 1986),PC 12 and COS-1 (ATCC CRL 1650) are preferred. Preferred BHK cell linesare the tk⁻ ts13 BHK cell line (Waechter and Baserga, Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 79:1106-1110, 1982) and the BHK 570 cell line (deposited withthe American Type Culture Collection, 12301 Parklawn Dr., Rockville, Md.under accession number CRL 10314). A tk⁻ BHK cell line is available asATCC CRL 1632. It is preferred to use host cells that do not haveendogenous calcitonin receptor.

Mammalian expression vectors for use in carrying out the presentinvention will include a promoter capable of directing the transcriptionof a cloned gene or cDNA. Preferred promoters include viral promotersand cellular promoters. Viral promoters include the immediate earlycytomegalovirus promoter (Boshart et al., Cell 41: 521-530, 1985) andthe SV40 promoter (Subramani et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 1: 854-864, 1981).Cellular promoters include the mouse metallothionein-1 promoter(Palmiter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,821), a mouse V.sub.κ promoter(Bergman et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81: 7041-7045, 1983; Grantet al., Nuc. Acids Res. 15: 5496, 1987) and a mouse V_(H) promoter (Lohet al., Cell 33: 85-93, 1983). A particularly preferred promoter is themajor late promoter from Adenovirus 2 (Kaufman and Sharp, Mol. Cell.Biol. 2: 1304-13199, 1982). Such expression vectors may also contain aset of RNA splice sites located downstream from the promoter andupstream from the DNA sequence encoding the peptide or protein ofinterest. Preferred RNA splice sites may be obtained from adenovirusand/or immunoglobulin genes.

Also contained in the expression vectors is a polyadenylation signallocated downstream of the coding sequence of interest. Polyadenylationsignals include the early or late polyadenylation signals from SV40(Kaufman and Sharp, ibid.), the polyadenylation signal from theAdenovirus 5 E1B region and the human growth hormone gene terminator(DeNoto et al., Nuc. Acids Res. 9: 3719-3730, 1981). The expressionvectors may include a noncoding viral leader sequence, such as theAdenovirus 2 tripartite leader, located between the promoter and the RNAsplice sites. Preferred vectors may also include enhancer sequences,such as the SV40 enhancer and the mouse μ enhancer (Gillies, Cell 33:717-728, 1983). Expression vectors may also include sequences encodingthe adenovirus VA RNAs.

Cloned DNA sequences may be introduced into cultured mammalian cells by,for example, calcium phosphate-mediated transfection (Wigler et al.,Cell 14: 725, 1978; Corsaro and Pearson, Somatic Cell Genetics 7: 603,1981; Graham and Van der Eb, Virology 52: 456, 1973.) Other techniquesfor introducing cloned DNA sequences into mammalian cells, such aselectroporation (Neumann et al., EMBO J. 1: 841-845, 1982), may also beused. In order to identify cells that have integrated the cloned DNA, aselectable marker is generally introduced into the cells along with thegene or cDNA of interest. Preferred selectable markers for use incultured mammalian cells include genes that confer resistance to drugs,such as neomycin, hygromycin, and methotrexate. The selectable markermay be an amplifiable selectable marker. A preferred amplifiableselectable marker is the DHFR gene. Selectable markers are reviewed byThilly (Mammalian Cell Technology, Butterworth Publishers, Stoneham,Mass., which is incorporated herein by reference). The choice ofselectable markers is well within the level of ordinary skill in theart.

Selectable markers may be introduced into the cell on a separate plasmidat the same time as the gene of interest, or they may be introduced onthe same plasmid. If on the same plasmid, the selectable marker and thegene of interest may be under the control of different promoters or thesame promoter, the latter arrangement producing a dicistronic message.Constructs of this type are known in the art (for example, Levinson andSimonsen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,339). It may also be advantageous to addadditional DNA, known as "carrier DNA" to the mixture which isintroduced into the cells.

Transfected mammalian cells are allowed to grow for a period of time,typically 1-2 days, to begin expressing the DNA sequence(s) of interest.Drug selection is then applied to select for growth of cells that areexpressing the selectable marker in a stable fashion. For cells thathave been transfected with an amplifiable selectable marker the drugconcentration may be increased in a stepwise manner to select forincreased copy number of the cloned sequences, thereby increasingexpression levels.

Promoters, terminators and methods suitable for introducing expressionvectors encoding recombinant human calcitonin receptor into plant, avianand insect cells are known in the art. The use of baculoviruses, forexample, as vectors for expressing heterologous DNA sequences in insectcells has been reviewed by Atkinson et al. (Pestic. Sci. 28:215-224,1990). The use of Agrobacterium rhizogenes as vectors forexpressing genes in plant cells has been reviewed by Sinkar et al. (J.Biosci. (Banglaore) 11: 47-58, 1987).

Host cells containing DNA constructs of the present invention are thencultured to produce recombinant human calcitonin receptor. The cells arecultured according to accepted methods in a culture medium containingnutrients required for growth of mammalian or other host cells. Avariety of suitable media are known in the art and generally include acarbon source, a nitrogen source, essential amino acids, vitamins,minerals and growth factors. The growth medium will generally select forcells containing the DNA construct by, for example, drug selection ordeficiency in an essential nutrient which is complemented by theselectable marker on the DNA construct or co-transfected with the DNAconstruct.

The human calcitonin receptor produced according to the presentinvention may be purified from the recombinant expression systems orother sources using purification protocols that employ techniquesgenerally available to those skilled in the art. The most convenientsources for obtaining large quantities of human calcitonin receptor arecells which express the recombinant receptor.

Purification may be achieved by conventional chemical purificationmeans, such as liquid chromatography, lectin affinity chromatography,gradient centrifugation, and gel electrophoresis, among others. Methodsof protein purification are known in the art (see generally, Scopes, R.,Protein Purification, Springer-Verlag, N.Y. (1982), which isincorporated herein by reference) and may be applied to the purificationof the human calcitonin receptor and particularly the recombinantlyproduced human calcitonin receptor described herein. In a preferredembodiment immunoaffinity chromatography is employed using antibodiesdirected against human calcitonin receptor. In another method ofpurification, the recombinant gene encoding human calcitonin receptor orportions thereof can be modified at the amino terminus, just behind asignal peptide, with a sequence coding for a small hydrophilic peptide,such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,703,004 and 4,782,137,incorporated herein by reference. Specific antibodies for the peptidefacilitate rapid purification of human calcitonin receptor, and theshort peptide can then be removed with enterokinase.

Thus, as discussed above, the present invention provides recombinanthuman calcitonin receptor isolated from its natural cellularenvironment, substantially free of other G protein coupled calcitoninreceptors. Purified human calcitonin receptor is also provided.Substantially pure human calcitonin receptor of at least about 50% ispreferred, at least about 70-80% more preferred, and 95-99% or morehomogeneity most preferred, particularly for pharmaceutical uses. Oncepurified, partially or to homogeneity, as desired, the recombinant humancalcitonin receptor may then be used to screen for agonist compounds,generate monoclonal antibodies, in assay procedures, etc.

In another aspect, the invention concerns polypeptides and fragments ofrecombinant human calcitonin receptor, including naturally occurringtruncated receptor variants. Polypeptides and fragments of humancalcitonin receptor may be isolated from recombinant expression systemsor may be synthesized from the sequences provided herein by the solidphase method of Merrifield, Fed. Proc. 21:412 (1962), Merrifield, J. Am.Chem. Soc. 85:2149 (1963), or Barany and Merrifield, in The Peptides,vol. 2, pp. 1-284 (1979) Academic Press, N.Y., each of which areincorporated herein by reference, or by use of an automated peptidesynthesizer. By "polypeptides" is meant a sequence of at least about 6amino acids, typically 20-30 or more, up to 100-200 amino acids or more,including entire proteins. For example, the portion(s) of humancalcitonin receptor protein which binds ligand may be identified by avariety of methods, such as by expressing various receptor polypeptidefragments by recombinant techniques or by treating purified recombinantreceptor with a protease or a chemical agent to fragment it anddetermine which fragment is able to bind to labeled calcitonin in aligand blot. Evidence indicates that a ligand binding domain iscontained within about 150 N-terminal residues of the receptor.Polypeptides may then be synthesized and used as antigen, to inhibitligand-human calcitonin receptor interaction, etc.

In another aspect, the invention provides means for regulating the humancalcitonin receptor-ligand interaction, and thus treating,therapeutically and/or prophylactically, a disorder which can be linkeddirectly or indirectly to human calcitonin receptor or to its naturalligand, calcitonin. By virtue of having the receptor of the invention,agonists or antagonists may be identified which stimulate, mimic orinhibit the interaction of human calcitonin with its receptor. Witheither agonists or antagonists the metabolism and reactivity of cellswhich express the receptor are controlled, thereby providing a means toabate or in some instances prevent the disease of interest, e.g.,osteoporosis.

Thus, the invention provides screening procedures for identifyingagonists or antagonists of events mediated by the calcitonin-humancalcitonin receptor interaction. Such screening assays may employ a widevariety of formats, depending to some extent on which aspect of theligand/receptor/G protein interaction is targeted. For example, suchassays may be designed to identify compounds which bind to the receptorand thereby block or inhibit interaction of the receptor with theligand. More preferably, other assays can be designed to identifycompounds which can substitute for ligand and therefore stimulate humancalcitonin receptor-mediated intracellular pathways. Yet other assayscan be used to identify compounds which inhibit or facilitate theassociation of human calcitonin receptor to G protein and therebymediate the cellular response to human calcitonin receptor ligand.

In one functional screening assay, human calcitonin receptor expressedwithin mammalian cells is functionally coupled to inositol metabolism.In this assay, compounds are screened for their relative affinity asreceptor agonists or antagonists by comparing the relative receptoroccupancy to the extent of ligand-induced stimulation or inhibition ofsecond messenger metabolism. For example, activation of phospholipase Cleads to increased inositol monophosphate metabolism. Means formeasuring inositol monophosphate metabolism are generally described inSubers and Nathanson, J. Mol. Cell, Cardiol. 20:131-140 (1988),incorporated herein by reference.

The screening procedure can be used to identify reagents such ascalcitonin analogues or lead compounds for use in further drug screeningwhich specifically bind to the receptor and substantially affect(stimulate or inhibit) the receptor's ability to stimulate G-proteinmediated activation of adenyl cyclase, for example.

The membrane-bound calcitonin receptor of the present invention alsoappears to function as a calcium receptor. Baby hamster kidney cellsexpressing recombinant calcitonin receptor were found to respond tomillimolar increases in extracellular calcium via a rapid and sustainedelevation in [Ca²⁺ ]_(i), whereas three calcitonin receptor-negativebaby hamster kidney cell lines, two of which express recombinantreceptors related to the calcitonin receptor, showed no sensitivity tochanges in extracellular calcium. The calcitonin receptor of the presentinvention is therefore a useful tool for identifying compounds that canmodulate, mimic or inhibit the effects of extracellular calcium oncellular metabolism. Experimental evidence indicates that extracellularcalcium regulates parathyroid hormone-secreting chief cells andcalcitonin-secreting thyroid C-cells, which secrete their respecthormones in response to serum calcium changes (Zaidi, Biosci. Rep.10:493-506, 1990). Evidence also indicates that osteoclasts express acell-surface receptor that senses millimolar increases in extracellularcalcium and inhibits bone resorption via an increase in osteoclast [Ca²⁺]_(i) concentrations (Zaidi, ibid; Alam et al., Biosci. Rep. 12:369-380,1992; MacIntyre et al. in Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, Baker,ed., 83:411-439, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1988; Malgaroli et al., J.Biol. Chem. 264:14342-14347, 1989; Zaidi et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res.Commun. 164:807, 1990).

Truncated calcitonin receptor variants that function as solublereceptors can be used in a variety of screening assays. For example, asoluble receptor may used to screen peptide or non-peptide librariesthat have been affixed to a solid support, such as latex, polystyrenebeads (Interfacial Dynamics Corp. Portland, Oreg.), magnetic particles(Advanced Magnetics, Cambridge, Mass.) and nylon balls (Hendry et al.,J. Immunological Meth., 35:285-296, 1980). For example, it is possibleto screen large peptide libraries that are synthesized by distributing apool of resin beads into separate reaction vessels each with a singleamino acid, coupling the amino acids to the beads and then repooling thebeads. The cycle is repeated multiple times to extend the peptide chain.Each bead contains a single peptide chain species. An acceptor molecule(e.g. soluble receptor) is coupled to a reporter enzyme (e.g.fluorescein) and allowed to react with peptide chain-coupled beads. Thebeads that bind receptor are identified by the activation of thereporter enzyme and separated from the pool. The receptor is removed bywashing in an appropriate solvent, the peptide chain-coupled bead isplaced in a microsequencer, and the amino acid sequence is analyzed (Lamet al., Nature 354:82-84, 1991). In another approach, the soluble formof a receptor may be attached to the solid support and ligand passedover the receptor to screen for compounds that bind and form a complex.This screening method is analogous to immobilizing antigens orantibodies to a solid support such as a nylon bead for use insolid-phase enzyme-linked immunoassays (Hendry et al., ibid, 1980). Suchmethods are well known in the art. The truncated calcitonin receptorvariants may also be used to screen peptide libraries as described in WO91/19818 and WO 91/05058, incorporated herein by reference.

Monoclonal antibodies which bind human calcitonin receptor are alsoprovided by the present invention. The production of non-humanmonoclonal antibodies, e.g., murine, is well known (see, e.g., Harlow etal., Antibodies A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Press, pp.139-240, 1989, incorporated herein by reference) and may be accomplishedby, for example, immunizing the animal with the purified recombinanthuman calcitonin receptor molecule or a preparation containing a desiredportion of the receptor molecule, such as the domain or domains whichcontribute to ligand binding or to G protein and adenylate cyclaseactivation. As it may be difficult to generate human monoclonalantibodies to a human receptor or binding domain polypeptide, it may bedesirable to transfer antigen binding regions of non-human monoclonalantibodies, e.g. the F(ab')₂ or hypervariable regions or murinemonoclonal antibodies, to human constant regions (Fc) or frameworkregions by recombinant DNA techniques to produce substantially humanmolecules. Such methods are generally known and are described in, e.g.,U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,816,397 and 4,946,778, and EP publications 173,494 and239,400, which are incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, onemay isolate DNA sequences which code for a human monoclonal antibody orportions thereof that specifically bind to the human receptor protein byscreening a DNA library from human B cells according to the generalprotocol outlined in WO 90/14430, incorporated herein by reference, andthen cloning and amplifying the sequences which encode the antibody (orbinding fragment) of the desired specificity.

In other embodiments, the invention provides screening assays conductedin vitro with cells which express the receptor. For example, the DNAwhich encodes the receptor or selected portions thereof may betransfected into an established cell line, e.g., a mammalian cell linesuch as BHK or CHO, using procedures described herein. The receptor isthen expressed by the cultured cells, and selected agents are screenedfor the desired effect on the cell, separately or in conjunction with anappropriate ligand such as calcitonin.

In yet another aspect, the screening assays provided by the inventionrelate to transgenic mammals whose germ cells and somatic cells containa nucleotide sequence encoding human calcitonin receptor protein or aselected portion of the receptor which, e.g., binds ligand, GTP bindingprotein, or the like. There are several means by which a sequenceencoding, for example, the human calcitonin receptor may be introducedinto a non-human mammalian embryo, some of which are described in, e.g.,U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,866, Jaenisch, Science 240-1468-1474 (1988) andWestphal et al., Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 5:181-196 (1989), which areincorporated herein by reference. The animal's cells then express thereceptor and thus may be used as a convenient model for testing orscreening selected agonists or antagonists.

In another aspect the invention concerns diagnostic methods andcompositions. By means of having nucleotide sequences encoding the humancalcitonin receptor, the recombinant receptor protein and monoclonalantibodies thereto, a variety of diagnostic assays are provided. Forexample, with monoclonal antibodies to human calcitonin receptor, thepresence and/or concentration of receptor in selected cells or tissuesof an individual or culture of interest may be determined. These assayscan be used in the diagnosis and/or treatment of diseases such as, forexample, osteoporosis, Paget's disease, and other bone resorptiondisorders, for example. Numerous types of immunoassays andoligonucleotide probe assays are available and are known to thoseskilled in the art.

The human calcitonin receptor DNA or RNA may be directly detected incells with a labeled human calcitonin receptor oligonucleotide probe ina hybridization procedure similar to the Southern or dot blot. Also, thepolymerase chain reaction (Saiki et al., Science 239:487, 1988, and U.S.Pat. Nos. 4,683,195 and 4,683,202, incorporated herein by reference) maybe used to amplify DNA sequences, which are subsequently detected bytheir characteristic size on agarose gels, Southern blots of these gelsusing human calcitonin receptor DNA or a oligonucleotide probe, or a dotblot using similar probes. The probes may comprise from about 14nucleotides to about 25 or more nucleotides, preferably, 40 to 60nucleotides, and in some instances a substantial portion or even theentire cDNA of human calcitonin receptor may be used. The probes arelabeled, directly or indirectly, with a with a detectable signal, suchas an enzyme, biotin, a radionuclide, fluorophore, chemiluminescer,paramagnetic particle, etc.

The following examples are offered by way of illustration, not bylimitation.

EXAMPLE I Cloning Human Calcitonin Receptor

This Example describes methods for cloning human calcitonin receptorcDNAs.

I. Synthesis of cDNA and Preparation of cDNA Library

T-47D breast carcinoma cells (HBL 133) were obtained from the AmericanTissue Culture Collection (ATCC) and cultured to confluency in 150 mmpetri dishes containing RPMI medium (RPMI 1640 (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.);0.29 mg/ml L-glutamine (Hazelton, Lenexa, Kans.); 1 mM sodium pyruvate(Irvine, Santa Ana, Calif.); 0.6 μl/ml insulin (GIBCO-BRL, Gaithersburg,Md.) and 1 μM hydrocortisone (Sigma). The cells were removed by scrapingfrom the petri dishes and total RNA was prepared from the cells usingguanidine isothiocyanate (Chirgwin et al. Biochemistry 18:52-94, 1979)and CsCl centrifugation. Poly (A)+ RNA was isolated using oligo d(T)cellulose chromatography (Aviv and Leder, Proc. Natl. Acid. Sci. USA69:1408-1412, 1972). The RNA was twice selected for poly (A)+ RNA.

First strand cDNA was synthesized from the poly (A)+ RNA describedabove. A reaction was prepared with the following reagents: 5.0 μl of2.0 μg/μl poly (A)+ RNA, 7.0 μl of water treated with diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC), 2.0 μl 10 mM Tris and 1 mM EDTA (TE) pH 7.4, and2.0 μl of 1.0 μg/μl oligonucleotide ZC2938 (Sequence ID. No. 15) to actas a primer. The reaction mixture was heated to 65° C. for 3 minutes andcooled on ice. After cooling the reaction mixture was divided intoseparate tubes designated A and B. The following reagents were added toboth the A and B mixtures: 4.0 μl of 5 X AT buffer (GIBCO-BRL,Gaithersburg, Md.), 1.0 μl of 200 mM dithiothreitol, 1.0 μl of adeoxynucleotide triphosphate solution containing 10 mM of each dATP,dGTP, dTTP and 5-methyl-dCTP (Pharmacia LKB Biotechnology, Piscataway,N.J.). Reaction mixture A had 1.0 μl of the radiolabeled deoxynucleotidetriphosphate α-dATP (10 μCi/μl) added. To the reaction mixture B 1.0 μlof DEPC-treated water was added. Five microliters of 200 u/μlSuperscript® reverse transcriptase (GIBCO-BRL, Gaithersburg, Md.) wasadded to both reaction mixtures A and B, and both were incubated at 45°C. for 30 minutes. The reactions were terminated by adding 80.0 μl of TEpH 7.4.

Two microliters were removed from reaction mixture A to quantitate theyield using a TCA precipitation. An additional 2.0 μl were set aside foralkaline gel analysis. The remaining reaction mixtures A and B wereprecipitated by adding 2.0 μg oyster glycogen, 30.0 μl 8M NH₄ Ac₂ and300.0 μl 100% ethanol. After pelleting the reactions were resuspended in50.0 μl sterile distilled water.

Second strand synthesis was performed on the RNA-DNA hybrid from thefirst strand synthesis reaction under conditions that promoted firststrand priming of second strand synthesis resulting in DNA hairpinformation. A 100.0 μl reaction mixture was prepared by adding thefollowing reagents to the 50 μg of first strand cDNA: 20.0 μl of 5×polymerase I buffer (100 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 500 mM KCl, 25 mM MgCl₂, 50 mM(NH₄)₂ SO₄), 4.0 μl 100 mM dithiothreitol, 1.0 μl of a solutioncontaining 10 mM of each deoxynucleotide triphosphate, 3.0 μl of 5 mMβ-NAD, 0.6 μl of 7 u/μl E. coli DNA ligase (NEB, Beverly, Mass.), 3.1 μlof 8 u/μl E. coli DNA polymerase (Amersham, Arlington Heights, Ill.), 1μl of 2.0 u/μl RNase H (GIBCO-BRL, Gaithersburg, Md.). Reaction mixtureB was supplemented with 1 μl of deoxynucleotide triphosphate α-³² PdATP(10 μCi/μl). The reaction mixture was assembled at room temperature andincubated at 16° C. for 2 hours. Two aliquots of 2.0 μl each wereremoved for TCA precipitation and alkaline gel analysis. Two microgramsof oyster glycogen were added to the remaining reaction mixture,followed by 5.0 μl of 0.5M EDTA and 200.0 μl TE pH 7.4. The reactionswere phenol-chloroform extracted and ammonium acetate precipitated.

Reaction mixtures A and B were each resuspended in 36.0 μl sterile,distilled water. The single-stranded DNA in the hairpin structure wascleaved using a mung bean nuclease reaction mixture that contained 6.0μl of 10× S1 buffer (300 mM NaAc pH 4.6, 3M NaCl, 10 mM ZnSO₄), 6.0 μlof 10 mM dithiothreitol, 1.0 μl of 50% glycerol, 6.0 μl mung beannuclease (NEB, Beverly, Mass.). The reactions were incubated for 30minutes at 30° C. and terminated by dilution to 100.0 μl with TE pH 7.4.Two microliters were removed for alkaline gel analysis. An additional50.0 μl of 2M Tris pH 7.4 and 50.0 μl TE pH 7.4 were added. The mixtureswere phenol-chloroform extracted twice and chloroform extracted once.The reaction mixtures were precipitated using 60.0 μl 8M NH₄ Ac and260.0 μl isopropanol and the pellets were washed in 80% ethanol.

After the mung bean nuclease digestion the DNA was blunted with T4 DNApolymerase treatment. The cDNA was resuspended in 24.0 μl sterile,distilled water; to which 10× T4 polymerase buffer (330 mM Tris acetatepH 7.9, 670 mM potassium acetate, 100 mM magnesium acetate and 1 mg/mlgelatin), 4.0 μl of each 1 mM deoxynucleotide triphosphate, 4.0 μl of 50mM dithiothreitol and 4.0 μl of 14 u/μl T4 DNA polymerase was added andincubated at 15° C. for 60 minutes. After terminating the reaction byaddition of 200.0 μl of TE, the reaction was phenol/chloroformextracted. The cDNA was precipitated using ammonium acetate andisopropanol.

Plasmid Zem228 is a pUC18-based expression vector containing a uniqueBam HI site for insertion of cloned DNA between the mousemetallothionein-1 promoter and SV40 transcription terminator and anexpression unit containing the SV40 early promoter, neomycin resistancegene, and SV40 terminator. Plasmid Zem228 was modified to delete the twoEco RI sites by partial digestion with Eco RI, blunting with DNApolymerase I (Klenow fragment) in the presence of dNTPs, andre-ligation. Digestion of the resulting plasmid with Bam HI followed byligation of the linearized plasmid with Bam HI-Eco RI adapters resultedin a unique Eco RI cloning site. The resultant plasmid was designatedZem228R. The Sst I site between the SV40 promoter and the mousemetallothionein-1 promoter was destroyed by linearizing Zem228R with SstI, blunting the adhesive ends with T4 DNA polymerase in the presence ofdNTPs and religating the linearized, blunt-ended fragment. A plasmid inwhich the Sst I site was destroyed was designated Zem228Ra.

In order to facilitate directional insertion of cDNA fragments intoZem288Ra, an adapter was synthesized which contained a 5' Eco RIadhesive end, an internal Sst I site and a 3'Eco RI adhesive end thatdoes not regenerate an Eco RI site upon ligation with an Eco RI adhesiveend. Plasmid Zem228Ra was linearized by digestion with Eco RI, and thelinearized plasmid was treated with calf alkaline phosphatase to preventrecircularization. The linearized plasmid was ligated with kinasedoligonucleotides ZC3168 and ZC3169 (Sequence ID Nos. 13 and 14;respectively). A plasmid containing inserted adapter was designatedZem228C.

To improve the ability achieve an Eco RI+Sst I cleavage of the Zem228Cvector, an oligonucleotide adapter was synthesized that contained aninternal Eco RI site flanked by Eco RI adhesive ends that do notregenerate Eco RI sites upon ligation with Eco RI adhesive ends.Oligonucleotides ZC1773 and ZC1774 (Sequence ID Nos. 5 and 6,respectively) were kinased and annealed to form the adapter. PlasmidZem228C was linearized by digestion with Eco RI, and the linearizedvector and kinased adapter were ligated. A plasmid containing adapterwas confirmed and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed that the plasmidcontained a 30 bp DNA insert between the new Eco RI site and thedownstream Sst I site. Since an Eco RI+Sst I cleavage of the vectorprior to the insertion of a cDNA sequence removes the additional DNAsequence, the inserted DNA was not removed. The plasmid was designatedZem1698 (also referred to as Zem228CC).

To facilitate the cloning of the cDNA into vector Zem1698, EcoRIadapters (Invitrogen, San Diego, Calif.) were ligated to the cDNA. ThecDNA was resuspended in 24.0 μl of sterile, distilled water and 4.0 μlof 10× ligase buffer (500 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.8 and 50 mMMgCl₂), 2.0 μl of10 mM dATP, 2.0 μl of 200 mM dithiothretiol, 4.0 μl of 1 μg/μl adaptorDNA and 4.0 μl of 1 Weiss U/μl T4 ligase (Boehringer Mannheim,Indianapolis, Ind.) were added to the DNA solution. The ligationreaction was incubated overnight at room temperature. The ligase washeat inactivated by incubation at 65° C. for 10 min. The cDNA wasdigested with SstI for 8 hrs in a 200 μl reaction with 20 units of SstIand isopropanol precipitated.

To size fractionate the cDNA and remove linkers the cDNA was subjectedto chromatography using a Sepharose 2B-CL column with 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH7.4, and 0.1 mM EDTA as the column buffer. The DNA in the void volumewas collected and ethanol preciptitated. The final yield of cDNA was 1.9μg.

The cloning vector Zem1698 was treated with alkaline phosphatase toprevent recircularization of the vector. The cDNA includedhemiphosphorylated EcoRI linker adaptors, as described previously, andwas phosphorylated using the following reaction to allow for cloninginto the Zem1698 vector. Twenty-five microliters of 80 ng/μl was mixedwith 1 μl of 200 mM dithiothreitol, 5 μl of 10 mM adenosinetriphosphate, 5 μl of 10× T4 Kinase buffer (700 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 1MKCl, 100 mM MgCl₂) and 5 μl of 10 U/μl T4 polynucleotide kinase(GIBCO-BRL, Gaithersburg, Md.). The reaction mixture was incubated for45 minutes at 37° C., followed by a 10 minute incubation at 65° C. TEwas added to a final volume of 150 μl and the reaction mixture wasphenol-chloroform extracted once and chloroform extracted once. The cDNAwas precipitated with sodium acetate and ethanol. The cDNA wasresuspended to a final concentration of 80 ng/μl.

Test ligations demonstrated that 10 ng of cDNA and 40 ng of vector wereoptimal for expressing the cDNA library. The ligation reaction wasscaled up using 8 μl of vector Zem1698 digested with EcoRI and SstI and2 μl of 80 ng/μl cDNA and was reacted in a 80 μl reaction volumecontaining: 1 μl 10× ligase (500 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.8, 100 mM MgCl₂, 250μg/ml BSA), 0.5 μl of 10 mM dithiothreitol and 1 μl of 1 μg/ml musselglycogen. The reaction was incubated at room temperature for 12 hours,after which time, 40 μl of water, 4 μl of 2M Tris pH 8.0 and 4 μl of0.5M EDTA were added. The reaction was phenol/chloroform extracted andprecipitated with ammonium acetate and ethanol. The pellet was rinsed in70% ethanol and resuspended in 20 μl water.

One microliter of cDNA was used to transform Electromax® E. coli cells(GIBCO-BRL, Gaithersburg, Md.) using a Gene Pulser® with a PulseController® (Bio-RAD, Richmond, Calif.) set to 25 μF, 2.3 KV, 400 ohmsand using a cuvette with a 2 mm gap. After electroporation the cellswere resuspended in 1 ml of LB broth and plated at 1:10, 1:100 and1:1000 dilutions onto LB plates with 100 μg/ml ampicillin. The plateswere incubated overnight at 37° C. and the titer was determined. Theremaining cDNA was concentrated to 8 μl and 4 independentelectroporation reactions using 2 μl of cDNA per 25 μl of cells weredone as described above. The 4 electroporation reactions were pooledinto a single mixture in LB broth with a final volume of 8.2 ml andincubated for 30 minutes at 37° C. in a roller drum. The inoculum wasplated (200 μl/plate) on 40 15-cm LB and ampicillin plates as describedabove. Titering of the plates determined each plate had approximately208,000 colonies. The plates were scraped to remove the cells and theplasmid DNA was isolated.

II. Isolation of Calcitonin Receptor cDNA by PCR Amplification

T-47D human breast carcinoma double-stranded cDNA was used as a templatefor the amplification of calcitonin receptor sequences using degenerateoligonucleotides (ZC4698 and ZC4699; Sequence ID Nos. 11 and 12,respectively) corresponding to regions of high conservation and lowdegeneracy based on a multiple alignment of the porcine calcitoninreceptor, the rat secretin receptor and the opossum parathyroid hormonereceptor. A 50 μl reaction was set up containing 80 ng of template cDNA;100 pmole each of oligonucleotides ZC4698 (Sequence ID No. 11) andZC4699 (Sequence ID No. 12); 5 μl of 10× PCR buffer (Promega Corp.,Madison, Wis.); 5 μl of each 2.5 mM deoxynucleotide triphosphate; 0.25μl of Taq polymerase (Promega) and 29.75 μl of water. The polymerasechain reaction was run for 2 cycles at 94° C. for 90 seconds, 40° C. for90 seconds and 72° C. for 120 seconds; 38 cycles at 94° C. for 45seconds, 50° C. for 45 seconds, 72° C. for 120 seconds, followed by a 7minute incubation at 72° C.

The reaction mixture was electrophoresed on a 1.2% agarose gel and a DNAfragment of approximately 600 base pairs was isolated, phenol-chloroformextracted and resuspended in 15 μl water. The 600 bp fragment wasamplified using the polymerase chain reaction. The reaction mixturecontained 1 μl of 600 bp template, 100 pmole of each oligonucleotide(ZC4698, Sequence ID No. 11 and ZC4699, Sequence ID No. 12), 5 μl of 10×PCR buffer (Promega), 5 μl of each 2.5 mM deoxynucleotide triphosphateand 0.6 μl of Taq polymerase (Promega). The reaction was run as follows:2 cycles at 90° C. for 90 seconds, 45° C. for 45 seconds, 72° C. for 120seconds; 30 cycles at 94° C. for 45 seconds, 45° C. for 45 seconds, 72°C. for 120 seconds and terminated with a 7 minute incubation at 72° C.The reaction mixture was cooled at 4° C. and electrophoresed on a 1% lowmelting agarose gel. A 600 bp fragment was excised and purified.

The 600 bp fragment was cloned into the prime2 vector. The prime2 vectorwas constructed by inserting the oligonucleotides ZC4418 and ZC4419(Sequence ID No. 9 and Sequence ID No. 10, respectively) into the PstIrestriction site of the phagemid vector pBluescript I (Stratagene, LaJolla, Calif.). This destroyed the original PstI site and created a newPstI site in the center of the oligonucleotide insert. The prime2 vectorwas digested to completion with PstI resulting in a 3' overhang.Cohesive ends were generated for the vector and the insert in separatereactions each containing 0.5 μg prime2 vector or 4 μl of the 600 bpinsert DNA fragment, 2 μl of 10× bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase buffer(Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2d ed., ColdSpring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989, which isincorporated herein by reference), 2 μl of each 1 mM dGTP or dCTP, 2 μlof T4 DNA polymerase.

A ligation reaction of the prime2 vector and 600 bp DNA fragmentincluded 1 μl of prime2 vector, 10 μl of the 600 bp DNA fragment, 3 μlof 10× ligation buffer (Boehringer Mannheim), 3 μl of ligase (NEB,Beverly, Mass.) and 30 μl of water. After overnight incubation at roomtemperature, the reaction mixture was phenol-chloroform extracted. Onceethanol precipitated, the DNA was resuspended in 25 μl water.

The resulting plasmid, designated 600/prime2, was used to transform E.coli strain DH10B ELECTROMAX cells (GIBCO BRL) by electroporation. Onetransformant, designated 600/prime2#1, was selected and plasmid DNA wasisolated. Sequence analysis showed that the insert encoded a polypeptiderelated to the porcine calcitonin receptor.

III. Cloning Full-Length Human Calcitonin Receptor From Breast CarcinomacDNA

A full length human calcitonin receptor cDNA was obtained by screeningthe JT47d library described in Example I. The JT47d library was platedonto 39 150-mm petri dishes containing LB+70 μg/ml ampicillin at adensity of 2×10⁵ colony forming units (cfu). Enough LB broth was addedto each plate to make a suspension of the colonies. The cell suspensionswere designated 1-39 and placed in LB with 15% glycerol added and frozenat -80° C. Vials containing cell suspensions 1-4 were thawed on ice. Onemicroliter of each suspension was diluted into 10 ml of LB broth andplated at 1, 10 or 100 μl per 150 mm plate containing LB+ampicillin,prepared by covering each plate with a 137 mm, 1.2 μm BIOTRANS nylonfilter (ICN, Irvine, Calif.). The plates were incubated for 12 hours at25° C., followed by a 5 hour incubation at 37° C., until the colonieswere approximately 0.5 mm in size. Replicate copies of the master filterwere made by pressing fresh nylon filters onto the master, placing thelayers between 3 mm Whatman paper and 2 glass plates and applyingpressure to the top plate. The filters were keyed for orientation usingan 18 gauge needle. The screening copies were placed on 150 mm LB+170μg/ml chloramphenical plates and incubated at 37° C. for 3 days. Themaster filter was placed on a 150 mm LB+70 μg/ml ampicillin plate andincubated for several hours at 37° C. The master filter was removed andstored at 4° C. Approximately 400,000 colonies were screened.

The plasmid 600/prime2#1 was prepared for use as a probe by firstdigesting with EcoRI and BamHI. The DNA fragment was twice gel purified,using a 2.5% agarose gel and 1% low-melting agarose gel, respectively. Aband of approximately 600 bp was isolated. Approximately 30 ng of the600 bp DNA fragment was radiolabeled using αdCTP and the StratagenePrime-It Kit (Stratagene) according to the manufacturer'sspecifications.

The cDNA filters were prehybridized in 80 ml of a solution of 50%formamide, 5 ml of 100× Denhardt's solution (Sambrook, ibid.), 5 ml of10% SDS, 30 ml of 20× SSC (Sambrook, ibid.) and water to make a finalvolume of 100 ml. After incubating at 37° C. overnight, newhybridization solution with 8.6 g Dextran Sulfate and 1.8 ml of boiled10 mg/ml salmon sperm DNA was added. The 600/prime2#1 probe was boiledto denature and 8.6×10⁷ cpm of labeled probe were added to the filtersand hybridization solution. The filters were hybridized overnight at 37°C.

One clone hybridized to the probe and was rescued from the masterfilter. The section of the filter corresponding to the positive signalwas removed and placed in 2 ml LB broth and vortexed. The culture wasreplated at several serial dilutions on new filters and processed asdescribed above. Labeled probe 600/prime2#1 was used to screen the newfilters and verified that the clone hybridized to the probe. This clonewas designated pHollex and has been deposited with the American TypeCell Culture, Rockville, Md. as an E. coli XLI blue transformant underAccession No. 69067. Sequence analysis, and restriction analysisrevealed that the cDNA had an insert of 3.3 kb. The coding sequence was1422 bp with an 3' untranslated sequence of 1.9 kb. Hollex encoded aprotein of 474 amino acids, and had 70.3% amino acid identity to theporcine calcitonin receptor.

IV. Identification of a Truncated Human Calcitonin Receptor From OvariancDNA

Human ovary first-strand cDNA was obtained from Clontech (Palo Alto,Calif.) and used as a template for the amplification of calcitoninreceptor sequences by polymerase chain reaction, using oligonucleotides(ZC5471 and ZC5468; SEQ ID NO: 16 and 17, respectively) corresponding toregions of human calcitonin receptor (as shown in SEQ ID NO:1). A 50 μlreaction was set up containing 1 ng template DNA, 5 μl (100 pmoles) ofeach oligonucleotide ZC5468 and ZC5471 (SEQ ID NO:17 and 16,respectively), 5 μl of each 2.5 mM deoxynucleotide triphosphate, 5 μl of10× VENT_(R) buffer (100 mM KCl, 200 mM Tris-HCl pH8.8, 100 mM (NH₄)₂SO₄, 20 μM MgSO₄ and 1% Triton X-100 (polyethylene glycol4-isooctylphenyl ether) (New England Biolabs)), 0.5 μl of VENT_(R)thermostable DNA polymerase (New England Biolabs) and 29.5 μl of water.The polymerase chain reaction was run for 2 cycles at 94° C. for 90seconds, 58° C. for 90 seconds and 72° C. for 2 minutes; 38 cycles at94° C. for 45 seconds, 58° C. for 45 seconds and 72° C. for 2 minutes;followed by 1 cycle at 72° C. for 7 minutes and stored at 4° C.overnight.

The reaction mixture was electrophoresed on a 2% agarose gel and a DNAfragment of approximately 600 base pairs was isolated. The agarosecontaining the DNA was crushed to form an aqueous solution. Theresulting DNA fragment was used as template for a polymerase chainreaction using oligonucleotides (ZC5469 and ZC5474, SEQ ID NO: 18 and19, respectively) which were designed to hybridize to sequences locatedinternally to oligonucleotides ZC5471 and ZC5468 (SEQ ID NO:16 and 17,respectively). A 50 μl reaction was set up containing 1 μl template DNA,5 μl (100 pmoles) of each oligonucleotide ZC5469 and ZC5474 (SEQ IDNO:18 and 19, respectively), 5 μl of each 2.5 mM deoxynucleotidetriphosphate, 5 μl of 10× VENT_(R) buffer (New England Biolabs), 0.5 μlof VENT_(R) polymerase (New England Biolabs) and 29.5 μl of water. Thepolymerase chain reaction was run for 2 cycles at 94° C. for 90 seconds,58° C. for 90 seconds and 72° C. for 2 minutes; 28 cycles at 94° C. for45 seconds, 58° C. for 45 seconds and 72° C. for 2 minutes; followed by1 cycle at 72° C. for 7 minutes and stored at 4° C. overnight.

The reaction mixture was electrophoresed on a 1% agarose gel, and a DNAfragment of approximately 400 base pairs was seen. A 35 μl aliquot ofthe polymerase chain reaction amplification was electrophoresed on a 1%low melt agarose gel, and the 400 base pair fragment was excised andsuspended in an equal volume of 1× TBE. The fragment was purified usingphenol-chloroform extraction and resuspended in 10 μl water.

The polymerase chain reaction generated a blunt-ended DNA fragment.Using a blunt-ended SmaI restriction digested pUC19 vector, a ligationreaction was set up containing 3 μl DNA, 2 μl pUC19, 3 μl 10× ligasebuffer, 3 μl ligase and 19 μl water. One microliter aliquots were usedto electroporate ELECTROMAX DH10B E. coli cells (GIBCO-BRL,Gaithersburg, Md.) using a Gene Pulser with a Pulse Controller (Bio-Rad,Richmond, Calif.) set to 25 μF, 2.3 KC, 400 ohms and using a cuvettewith a 2 mm gap. After electroporation the cells were resusupended in 1ml of LB broth and plated onto LB plates containing 100 μg/ml ampicillinat 10 μl, 100 μl and 890 μl dilutions. The plates were incubatedovernight at 37° C. Replicate filters were prepared by covering andcarefully removing 2 1.2-1M filters (ICN, Irvine, Calif.) from eachpetri dish. The filters were keyed for orientation using an 18 gaugeneedle and baked for 1 hour at 80° C. After drying, the filters wereplaced in 50 ml of prehybridization solution that contained 50%formamide, 5 ml of 10% SDS, 5 ml of 100× Denhardt's solution (USABiochem. Corp., Cleveland, Ohio), 30 ml of 20× SSC (Sambrook, ibid.), 50ml of 0.2 mg/ml salmon sperm DNA and water to make a final volume of 100ml. The filters were placed at 37° C. to incubate overnight.

The oligonucleotide ZC5162 (SEQ ID NO: 21), which hybridizes to aportion of the human calcitonin receptor within the 400 base pairfragment, was prepared for use as a probe by radiolabelling the DNAusing α-dCTP and the Stratagene Prime-It Kit (Stratagene) according tothe manufacturer's specifications.

The prehybridization solution was removed, and 50 ml of newhybridization solution containing 10⁶ cpm/ml of the probe ZC5162 (SEQ IDNO:21) was added to the filters. The filters were hybridized overnightat 37° C. The probe hybridized to four clones, all located on the filterfrom the 890 μl plating. Three of the four colonies were isolated andinoculated into 5 ml 2× YT broth (16 g. of Bacto Typtone (DIFCO,Detroit, Mich.), 10 g. of Yeast Extract (DIFCO), 10 g. of NaCl and waterto 1 liter) that included 100 μg/ml ampicillin. The cultures were grownovernight at 37° C., and plasmid DNA was isolated. The plasmid DNA wasdigested with EcoRI and HindIII and electrophoresed on an agarose gel toverify inserts of the correct size. All three clones had inserts of 400base pair size. The clones were streaked out on LB plates containing 100μg/ml ampicillin to isolate pure colonies, and the plasmid DNA isolationand restriction digests were repeated as described above. The DNA wasanalyzed on a 2.5% agarose gel, and the 400 base pair insert wasverified.

Sequence analysis of the cDNA fragment indicated that the sequence wasidentical to the clone designated Hollex 1 with the exception of a 35base pair insert beginning after nucleotide 522 (see SEQ ID NO:1) thatresulted in a frame shift. The nucleotide and deduced amino acidsequence of the ovarian calcitonin receptor cDNA clone is shown at SEQ.ID NO.24 and SEQ ID NO.25

V. Identification of a Full-Length Human Calcitonin Receptor PlacentalcDNA

Human placental first strand cDNA was obtained from Clontech (No.7116-1) and used as a template for amplification of calcitonin receptorsequences by polymerase chain reaction using oligonucleotides (ZC5471and ZC5468; SEQ ID NO: 16 and 17, respectively) corresponding to regionsof human calcitonin receptor as described previously. A 50 μl reactionwas set up containing 1 μl (1 ng/μl) of template cDNA, 5 μl of (100pmoles) each oligonucleotide ZC5471 and ZC5468 (SEQ ID NO:16 and 17,respectively), 5 μl of each 2.5 mM dNTP, 5 μl of 10× VENT_(R) buffer(New England Biolabs), 0.5 μl of VENT_(R) polymerase (New EnglandBiolabs) and 29.5 μl of water. The polymerase chain reaction was run for2 cycles at 94° C. for 90 seconds, 60° C. for 90 seconds and 72° C. for2 minutes; 38 cycles at 94° C. for 45 seconds, 60° C. for 45 seconds and72° C. for 2 minutes; followed by 1 cycle at 72° C. for 7 minutes andstored at 4° C. overnight. Ten microliters of the polymerase chainreaction product was analyzed by gel electrophoresis. The reactionproduct was approximately 600 base pairs.

The reaction mixture was electrophoresed on a 1% agarose gel, and a DNAfragment of approximately 600 base pairs was isolated by excising theagarose containing the DNA fragment from the rest of the gel. Theagarose was crushed to form an aqueous solution and used as template fora polymerase chain reaction. The template DNA was amplified in areaction that contained 1 μl of template cDNA, 5 μl (100 pmoles) of eacholigonucleotide ZC5471 and ZC5468 (SEQ ID NO: 16 and 17, respectively),5 μl of each 2.5 mM dNTP, 5 μl of 10× VENT_(R) buffer (New EnglandBiolabs), 0.5 μl of VENT_(R) polymerase (New England Biolabs) and 29.5μl of water. The polymerase chain reaction was run for 2 cycles at 94°C. for 90 seconds, 60° C. for 90 seconds and 72° C. for 2 minutes; 38cycles at 94° C. for 45 seconds, 60° C. for 45 seconds and 72° C. for 2minutes; followed by 1 cycle at 72° C. for 7 minutes and stored at 4° C.overnight.

The reaction mixture was electrophoresed on a 2% gel, and four DNA bandsranging from 500 to 800 base pairs were seen. Each of the four bands wasexcised, purified using a 1.5% agarose gel, phenol-chloroform extractedand ethanol precipitated, and each DNA pellet was resuspended in 5 μlwater.

Each of the four DNA fragments was phosphorylated to facilitate cloninginto the blunt-ended, dephosphorylated vector pNEB193 (a pUC19derivative obtained from New England Biolabs) in a reaction mixturecontaining: 4 μl of approximately 10 ng/μl of DNA fragment; 5 μl of0.01M c-32P ATP; 5 μl of 10× polynucleotide kinase buffer (700 mMTris-HCl pH7.8, 100 mM MgCl₂ and 50 mM dithiothereitol (New EnglandBiolabs)), 5 μl of polynucleotide kinase (New England Biolabs) and 33.5μl of water. The reaction mixture was incubated at 37° C. for 1 hourfollowed by a 45 minute incubation at 65° C. Each of the fourphosphorylated DNA fragments was ligated with pNEB193 by adding to thephosphorylation reaction mixture 1 μl of 250 mM dithiothreitol, 1 μl ofapproximately 30 ng/μl SmaI linearized pNEB193 and 2.5 μl of T4 DNAligase (New England Biolabs). The reaction mixture was incubated at roomtemperature for 20 minutes. Following the incubation, 5 μl of 10×ligation buffer (New England Biolabs), 40 μl of water and 5 μl of T4 DNAligase were added, and the reaction mixture was incubated at roomtemperature. The ligated DNA was purified by phenol-chloroformextraction and ethanol precipitation, and the DNA was resuspended in 20μl water. The plasmid DNA was digested with SmaI, phenol extracted andresuspended in 5 μl of water. The linearized DNA was used toelectroporate ELECTROMAX DH10B E. coli cells as described previously.The cell mixture was resuspended in 1 ml of LB broth and was used toinoculate LB plates containing 100 μg/ml ampillicin, 60 μl 50 mg/ml Xgaland 20 μl of 100 mM IPTG. The plates were incubated at 37° C. overnight,and seven white colonies from each of the four different DNA fragmentswere selected for culturing.

Twenty-eight selected colonies were individually inoculated into 5 ml of2× YT broth and grown overnight at 37° C. Plasmid DNA was isolated anddigested with EcoRI and HindIII restriction enzymes. One microliter ofeach restriction digest was run on a 2.5% agarose gel. The DNA wastransferred to nitrocellulose, and the blot was probed essentially asdescribed by Southern (J. Mol. Biol. 98:503, 1975; Sambrook et al.,ibid.) with a 3.3 kb Bam HI fragment from pHollex that included theentire coding region of the human calcitonin receptor. The pHollexfragment was radiolabeled using a Multiprime DNA labeling kit (Amersham,Arlington Heights, Ill.), according the manufacturer's specifications.

Six of the 28 clones hybridized to the human calcitonin receptor probeand were selected for sequence analysis. The analysis revealed that oneclone, designated pla 14, had a 9 base pair insert but did not appear tobe a pure culture. The clone pla 14 was purified by streaking the mixedculture on a LB plate that contained 100 μg/ml ampillicin. Six colonieswere isolated and subjected to sequence analysis. These colonies weredesignated pla 14.1-14.6. Two of these clones, pla 14.4 and pla 14.6,each had a 9 base pair insert. The clone pla 14.6 was used as the sourcefor plasmid DNA and following plasmid DNA isolation was digested withEcoRI and NsiI. The DNA was electrophoresed on a 2.5% agarose gel, and a150 base pair fragment was isolated and purified using phenol-chloroformextraction and ethanol precipitation. The DNA was resuspended in 31 μlof water.

The nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of the placentalcalcitonin receptor clone is shown at SEQ ID NO.26 and SEQ ID NO.27

EXAMPLE II Expression of Human Calcitonin Receptor in Mammalian Cells

This Example describes the expression of functional human calcitoninreceptor by cells in a manner that was capable of binding calcitonin,activating adenylate cyclase activity, and increasing intracellularcalcium.

A. Transfection Into Luciferase Cell Line

The human calcitonin receptor cDNA pHollex was expressed in a BHK570cell line stably transfected with pKZ10, an expression unit comprising apromoter containing two cyclic AMP response elements, the luciferasecDNA and the hGH terminator. This cell line permits the measurement ofluciferase activity, adenylate cyclase activity and intracellularcalcium concentrations in response to calcitonin binding to itsreceptor.

The enkephalin cyclic AMP response element (CRE) in plasmid ZK6 wasobtained from Zem233. Zem233 was derived from plasmids Zem67 and Zem106.Plasmid Zem106 was constructed from the precursor Zem93. To constructZem93, a Kpn I-Bam HI fragment comprising the MT-1 promoter was isolatedfrom MThGH111 (Palmiter et al., Science 222:809-814, 1983) and insertedinto pUC18. Plasmid Zem93 was then digested with Sst I and re-ligated togenerate plasmid Zem106, in which approximately 600 bp of sequence 5' tothe MT-1 promoter were eliminated.

An enkephalin CRE was inserted into Zem106 by first digesting Zem106with EcoRI and SstI to isolate the vector-containing fragment.Oligonucleotides ZC982 and ZC983 (Sequence ID Nos. 3 and 4,respectively) were designed to encode when annealed a proenkephalin CREfrom nucleotides -71 to -133 (Comb et al., Nature 323: 353-356, 1986)flanked by a 5' EcoRI site and a 3' SstI site. Oligonucleotides ZC982and ZC983 (Sequence ID Nos. 3 and 4, respectively) were kinased,annealed and ligated with the linearized Zem106 to obtain plasmidZem224.

Plasmid Zem67 was obtained by first digesting pIC19R (Marsh et al., Gene32:481-486, 1984) with SmaI and HindIII. The ori region of SV40 from mapposition 270 (Pvu II) to position 5171 (Hind III) was then ligated tothe linearized pIC19R to produce plasmid Zem67. The HindIII-BamHIneomycin resistance gene-SV40 terminator fragment from plasmid pSV2-neo(available from ATCC as Accession no. 37149) was inserted into HindIII-Bgl II digested Zem67 to obtain Zem220.

The SV40 promoter-neomycin resistance gene-SV40 terminator expressionunit from plasmid Zem220 was isolated as an Eco RI fragment. PlasmidZem224 was digested with Eco RI and treated with calf alkalinephosphatase to prevent recircularization. The neomycin expression unitand the linearized Zem224 were ligated. A plasmid containing the SV40promoter proximal to the CRE was designated Zem233.

Plasmid Zem233 was modified to insert an additional CRE sequence, a TATAbox, and a portion of the lacZ coding and poly(A) sequences immediately3' to the proenkephalin CRE sequence such that the resulting expressionunit was in the opposite orientation relative to the neomycin resistanceexpression unit present in Zem233. Plasmid Zem233 was linearized bydigestion with SstI and BamHI. Oligonucleotides ZC3509 and ZC3510(Sequence ID Nos. 7 and 8, respectively) were designed such that whenannealed, the resulting duplex encodes a glycoprotein CRE (Delegeane etal., Mol. Cell. Biol. 7: 3994-4002, 1987) with a 5' SstI adhesive endand a 3' EcoRI adhesive end. The oligonucleotides were annealedaccording to standard procedures. The thymidine kinase TATA box wasobtained as an Eco RI-Pst I fragment spanning nucleotides -79 to +18 ofthe thymidine kinase gene (McKnight Cell 31: 355-366, 1982). The 3'sequence of the lacZ gene and its associated poly(A) sequence wereobtained as a Pst I-Bam HI fragment from plasmid pLacF (obtained fromJaques Peschon, Immunex Corp., Seattle, Wash.), which contains the lacZcoding region and mouse protamine terminator sequence cloned into thepUC18 vector. The Sst I-Bam HI linearized Zem233, the Sst I-Eco RIZC3509/ZC3510 adapter, the Eco RI-Pst I TATA box fragment and the PstI-Bam HI lacZ sequence were ligated. A plasmid containing the expressionunit in the correct orientation relative to the neomycin resistance geneexpression unit of Zem233 was designated KZ5.

The luciferase gene and human growth hormone (hGH) terminator sequenceswere used to replace the lacZ coding and poly(A) sequences present inKZ5. The luciferase gene was initially obtained from plasmid a-1681uc(Delegeane et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 7: 3994-4002, 1987 and deWet et al.,Mol. Cell. Biol. 7: 725-737, 1987) as a 1.7 kb Xho I-Xba I fragment. ThehGH terminator was obtained as an Xba I-Sal I fragment from Zem219b(deposited as an E. coli transformant with the ATCC under Accession no.6879). The luciferase gene and hGH terminator sequences were subclonedinto Xho I-Sal I linearized pIC19H (Marsh et al., ibid.) forconvenience. The resulting plasmid, KZ8, was digested with Xho I and SalI to isolate the luciferase-hGH terminator sequences. Plasmid KZ5 wasdigested with Sal I to isolate the vector-containing fragment and wastreated with calf alkaline phosphatase to prevent recircularization. TheXho I-Sal I luciferase-hGH terminator fragment was ligated with the SalI-digested KZ5. A plasmid containing the luciferase-hGH terminator inthe proper orientation relative to the promoter was designated KZ6.

Plasmid KZ6 was digested with HindIII to remove a DNA fragmentcontaining the SV40 promoter, CRE unit, Luciferase gene, human growthhormone gene and poly(A) sequences. Zem 219b (ATCC accession number68979) was digested with HindIII to isolate the DHFR gene and pUC18sequences. The KZ6 and Zem219b DNA fragments were gel purified isolatedas a 3.0 kb fragment and a 5.0 kb fragment, respectively, and ligated.The resulting plasmid containing a CRE-responsive luciferase gene and aDHFR selectable marker was designated plasmid KZ10.

Plasmid KZ10 was transfected into BHK570 cells (available from ATCC asAccession no. CRL 10314) using the calcium phosphate precipitationmethod essentially as described by Graham and Van de Eb (Virol. 52: 456,1973, which is incorporated by reference herein). The transfected cellswere grown in growth medium (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM)containing 10% fetal calf serum and 2.0 mm L-glutamine). After a fewdays in nonselective growth medium, the growth medium was replaced withmethotrexate (MTX) selection medium (growth medium containing 250 nMMTX). The cells were then allowed to grow to confluency after which theywere trypsinized and plated at limiting dilution into the wells of96-well plates. The cells were grown for one to two weeks inmethotrexate selection medium. Clones from wells containing singlecolonies were assayed for the ability to respond to forskolin in theluciferase assay described below. Forskolin elevates the cellular cAMPlevel and thus the associated cAMP-dependent biological responsepathways in a receptor-independent manner. A clone capable of respondingto forskolin was designated BHK/KZ10-20-48.

B. Expression of the Ovarian Calcitonin Receptor cDNA

Oligonucleotide primers ZC5468 and ZC5471 (SEQ ID NO: 17 and 16,respectively) were used for the amplification of the ovarian calcitoninreceptor cDNA and contained a 3' EcoRI restriction site and a 5' NsiIrestriction site. These restriction sites were used to remove theovarian cDNA from the polymerase chain reaction generated clones andinsert the DNA fragment into the corresponding region of pHollex,creating a new plasmid containing the calcitonin receptor with theovarian cDNA insertion. Two of the ovarian clones, designated 6 and 7,were pooled and digested with EcoRI and NsiI. The cDNA fragment wasexcised, then analyzed and isolated using a 2.5% agarose gel, and foundto be 180 base pairs. To facilitate cloning of the ovarian cDNA 180 basepair fragment, a BglII/BclI portion (1.5 kb) of the clone pHollex wasligated into the cloning vector pNEB193 (New England Biolabs) bydigesting pNEB193 with EcoRI and SmaI and making the plasmid blunt-endedusing the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase. The pNEB193 DNA wasdigested with BamHI and ligated with a BglII/BclI (BamHI compatible)fragment of pHollex. The resulting plasmid, pHollex/NEB193, has a 3'EcoRI restriction site and a 5' NsiI restriction site surrounding thecalcitonin receptor cDNA. Twenty-five micrograms of the plasmid wasdigested with EcoRI and NsiI, and a 4.5 kb fragment was isolated by gelpurification using a 0.8% agarose gel. The resulting fragment wasresuspended in 60 μl of water. The ovarian cDNA fragment and pHollexlinearized plasmid were ligated in a reaction mixture containing 1 μl ofapproximately 50 ng/μl pHollex; 1 μl of approximately 10 ng/μl ovariancalcitonin receptor cDNA; 3 μl 10× ligation buffer; 3 μl T4 ligase (NewEngland Biolabs) and 22 μl water. The reaction mixture was incubated atroom temperature for approximately 3 hours, phenol-chloroform extractedand ethanol precipitated. The resulting DNA pellet was resuspended in 5μl water, and 1 μl ligated DNA was used to electroporate ELECTROMAXDH10B E. coli cells as described above. The cells were plated on LBplates containing 100 mg/ml ampicillin, and 18 colonies were isolated.Cultures were grown from these colonies, and plasmid DNA was isolated.The clones were designated Ovex 1-18, and each clone was shown tocontain a 1.5 kb insert using gel analysis. Sequence analyses of Ovexclones 1 and 2 revealed a 35 base pair insert in the calcitonin cDNAidentical to the original fragment generated by the polymerase chainreaction amplification.

Ovex 1 and 2 were subcloned into mammalian expression vector Zem228R.Vector Zem228R is a precursor of Zem1698 described in Example I.I.Plasmid Zem228R was digested with EcoRI to linearize the vector and madeblunt-ended in a reaction that contained 10× nick translation buffer(0.5M Tris-HCl pH7.2, 0.1M MgSO₄, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 500 μg/ml bovineserum albumin), 2.5 mM of each dNTP, 5 μl of the Klenow fragment of DNApolymerase (GIBCO-BRL), 10 μl of approximately 20 ng/μl plasmid Zem228Rand 50 μl water. The reaction mixture was incubated at room temperaturefor one hour, extracted with phenol-chloroform and ethanol precipated.The DNA pellets were resuspended in 85 μl of water, treated with calfalkaline phosphatase and gel purified. The Ovex clones were digestedwith AscI and HindIII to remove the pNEB193 fragment from the insert.The resulting fragment was identified as 1.5 kb and gel purified. The1.5 kb DNA fragment was made blunt-ended in a reaction containing: 20 μlAscI/HindIII digested ovex DNA; 10 μl 10× nick translation buffer; 5 μlof the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase (GIBCO-BRL); 5 μl of 2.5 mMdNTPs and 60 μl water. The reaction mixture was incubated at roomtemperature for 30 minutes and phenol-chloroform extracted. The DNA wasethanol precipitated and resuspended in 10 μl water.

The blunt-ended, linearized vector Zem228R and blunt-ended Ovex cDNAfragment were ligated in a reaction containing: 1 μl of approximately 20ng/μl calf alkaline phosphatase-treated Zem228R; 3 μl of 10× ligationbuffer (New England Biolabs); 3 μl ligase (New England Biolabs); 5 μlAscI/HindIII blunt-ended Ovex fragment and 22 μl water. The ligationmixtures were phenol-chloroform extracted, ethanol precipitated andresuspended in 5 gml water. One microliter of ligation mixture was usedto electroporate ELECTROMAX DH10B E. coli cells as described previously.The ligation-cell mixture was resuspended in 1 ml of LB broth, and 100μl of the mixture was used to inoculate LB plates containing 100 μg/mlampicillin.

Eighteen Ovex/Zem228R colonies were isolated and inoculated into 4 ml of2× YT broth containing 50 μg/ml of kanamycin. The cultures were grownovernight at 37° C. Eight of the eighteen cultures grew, and these wereused as a source for plasmid DNA. The plasmid DNA was digested withBamHI and gel analyzed. Each of the eight clones had an insert of thecorrect size (1.5 kb).

Orientation of the Ovex/Zem228R insert was determined by digesting theplasmid DNA with SalI and using gel analysis. Clones designatedpOvex/Zem228R4 and pOvex/Zem228R5 were found to have the correctrestriction sites.

The ovarian subtype human calcitonin receptor cDNA Ovex/Zem228R wasexpressed in cell line BHK/KZ10-20-48 as described in Example IIA.

C. Expression of the Placental Calcitonin Receptor cDNA

The vector pHollex/NEB193 was digested with NsiI and EcoRI to remove theregion corresponding to the ovarian 35 base pair insert. A 4.5 kb DNAfragment was isolated and purified. A ligation reaction was preparedwith a mixture containing 1 μl of 50 ng/μl EcoRI/NsiI pHollex/NEB193, 30ng (1 μl) of the 150 base pair pla 14.6 EcoRI/NsiI DNA fragment, 3 μl of10× ligase buffer (500 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.8, 100 mM MgCl₂, 100 mMdithiotheritol, 10 mM ATP and 250 μg/ml BSA (New England Biolabs)); 3 μlof ligase (New England Biolabs) and 22 μl of water. The mixture wasincubated at room temperature for 3 hours followed by aphenol-chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation. The DNA wasresuspended in 5 μl of water and used to electroporate ELECTROMAX DH10BE. coli cells as described previously. Four colonies, designated plaex1-4, were isolated and cultured, and plasmid DNA was prepared.

Confirmation of insert size was made by transferring the DNA tonitrocellulose and probing as described above. The probe was made froman oligonucleotide designed to span the 9 base pair placental cloneinsert (ZC5993; SEQ ID NO:20). The probe was radiolabeled by incubationat 37° C. for 30 minutes in a mixture containing 5 μl of 3.9 pmole/μl ofZC5993 (SEQ ID NO:20), 10 μl of 10× polynucleotide kinase buffer (NewEngland Biolabs), 5 μl of polynucleotide kinase (New England Biolabs), 1μl of 150 μCi/μl ³² p gamma-ATP (Amersham) and 79 μl of water. Theunincorporated radiolabel was removed by precipitation withspermine/salmon sperm DNA, according to the specification provided withthe Multiprime DNA Labeling kit (Amersham). The nitrocellulose blotswere incubated at high stringency hybridization conditions at 65° C. in0.1× SSC/0.5% SDS (Sambrook et al., ibid.) to eliminate probe fromhybridizing to clones containing the plasmid pHollex but without theplacental insert. All four of the plaex clones were found to containinserts.

One clone, designated plaex3, was subcloned into mammalian expressionvector Zem228R. Zem228R was digested with EcoRI to linearize the vectorand made blunt-ended as described previously. The plaex3 plasmid DNA wasdigested with AscI and HindIII to remove the portion of the vectorcorresponding to pNEB193 from the plasmid. The resulting DNA fragmentwas identified as 1.5 kb and gel purified. The DNA fragment was madeblunt-ended as described previously.

The blunt-ended, linearized vector Zem228R and blunt-ended plaex DNAfragment were ligated in a reaction containing 1 μl of approximately 20ng/μl phosphorylated Zem228R, 3 μl of 10× ligation buffer (New EnglandBiolabs), 3 μl ligase (New England Biolabs), 5 μl of 50 ng/μlAscI/HindIII blunt-ended plaex DNA fragment and 22 μl water. Theligation and subsequent electroporation of ELECTROMAX DH10B E. colicells were done as described previously. The cell mixture wasresuspended in 1 ml of LB broth, and 100 μl and 900 μl aliquots of thesuspension were used to inoculate LB plates containing 50 μg/mlkanamycin.

Filters were made of the plaex3 colonies using 137 mm 1.2 μM nylonmembranes (ICN). The filters were dried and placed in the hybridizationsolution containing 62.5 ml of 20× SSPE (175.3 g NaCl, 27.6 gNaH2PO4.H2O, 7.4 g EDTA, NaOH added to pH7.4 and water to 1 liter), 25ml of 50× Denhardt's solution; 12.5 ml of 10% SDS (Sambrook et al.,ibid.) and 144 ml of water with 0.2 mg/ml of boiled salmon sperm DNAadded. A The mixtures were incubated for several hours at 65° C. probewas made from pHollex/NEB193 as a template and oligonucleotides ZC5470and ZC5465 (SEQ ID NO:22 and 23, respectively) by amplifying the DNAsequences using a polymerase chain reaction. A 50 μl reaction was set upcontaining 1 ng template DNA, 5 μl (100 pmoles) of each ofoligonucleotides ZC5470 and ZC5465 (SEQ ID NO:22 and 23, respectively),5 μl of each 2.5 mM deoxynucleotide triphosphate, 5 μl of 10× VENT_(R)buffer (New England Biolabs), 0.5 μl of VENT_(R) polymerase (New EnglandBiolabs) and 29.5 μl of water. The polymerase chain reaction was run for2 cycles at 94° C. for 90 seconds, 58° C. for 90 seconds and 72° C. for2 minutes; 38 cycles at 94° C. for 45 seconds, 58° C. for 45 seconds and72° C. for 2 minutes; followed by 1 cycle at 72° C. for 7 minutes andstored at 4° C. overnight.

A second polymerase chain reaction was run using the product of theabove reaction as the template. This reaction mixture contained 1 ngtemplate DNA, 10 μl (200 pmoles) of each of oligonucleotides ZC5470 andZC5465 (SEQ ID NO:22 and 23, respectively), 10 μl of each 2.5 mMdeoxynucleotide triphosphate, 4 μl of 10× VENT_(R) (EXO-) buffer (NewEngland Biolabs), 29.5 μl of water and a wax bead (AMPLIWAX PCR GEM 100;Perkin Elmer, Norwalk, Conn.). The reaction mixture was heated to 80° C.and the reaction carried out according to the manufacturer'sspecification. After incubation, 6 μl of 10× VENT_(R) buffer (NewEngland Biolabs), 4 μl of VENT_(R) (EXO-) (New England Biolabs) and 50μl of water were added to the mixture. Ten separate reaction mixtureswere prepared. The polymerase chain reaction was run for 10 cycles of94° C. for 45 seconds, 58° C. for 45 seconds, and 72° C. for 2 minutesfollowed by 1 cycle at 72° C. for 7 minutes. The reaction mixtures werepooled and purified by centrifugation in a Centricon 100 (Amicon,Danvers, Mass.) according to the manufacturer's specifications. Theretentate was purified by ammonium acetate-2-propanol precipitation in areaction containing 27 μl of 7.5M ammonium acetate, 55 μl of DNAsupernatant, 18 μl of water and 100 μl of 2-propanol. The reactionmixture was centrifuged for 10 minutes at 14,000 rpm in an Eppendorfmicrocentrifuge. The pellet was resuspended in 187 μl of water to aconcentration of approximately 50 ng/μl.

The filters were added to 100 ml of the hybridization solutioncontaining 10⁶ cpm/ml of probe and incubated at 65° C. overnight. Afterincubation, the filters were washed 5 times in 0.1× SSC and 0.5% SDS at65° C. for 30 minutes per wash. Six positive colonies were identified,isolated and used to inoculate 5 ml of 2× YT broth with 100 μg/ml ofampicillin added. Plasmid DNA was isolated from the cells and analyzedby restriction digest using BamHI. All six clones were found to have theexpected insert size of 1.5 kb and the clones were designated plaex 1,2, 4. Orientation of the insert was determined by digesting the plasmidDNA with NsiI and all of the clones were found to have the correctorientation for transcription.

The placental subtype human calcitonin receptor cDNA plaex 1 was stablyexpressed in cell line BHK/KZ10-20-48 as described in Example IIA.

D. Luciferase and Adenylate Cyclase Activity In Whole Cells

pHollex or Zem1698 were used to transfect cell line BHK/KZ10-20-48(Zem1698 transfectants were used as negative controls) as describedabove using calcium phosphate-mediated transfection. Transfectants wereselected in a growth medium containing both 500 μg/ml G418-neomycin and250 nM methotrexate as described previously.

Transfectants were assayed in triplicate for the induction of theCRE-luciferase response to selected agonists. Two clones, Hollex1 andHollex2, and the vector Zem1698 (negative control) were tested.Microlite flat bottom tissue culture plates (Baxter Scientific Products,Chicago, Ill.) were set up such that each well contained 2×10⁴ cells in100 μl of selection media and the cells were grown overnight. Theagonists were prepared in DMEM medium with 5% serum at the 2× finalassay concentration containing either: 10⁻¹³ to 10⁻⁶ M human calcitonin(hCT), salmon calcitonin (sCT), human calcitonin gene related peptide(hCGRP) or 20 μM forskolin (CalBiochem, San Diego, Calif.).

Induction was initiated by removing old medium from the wells and adding100 μl of fresh growth medium and 100 μl of each 2× solution intriplicate sample wells. Uninduced levels were determined in triplicatewells to which 100 μl of DMEM containing 10% fetal calf serum was added.The plates were incubated for four hours at 37° C., 5% CO₂ to allowinduction of luciferase.

Following induction, the medium was removed, and the wells were washedonce with 200 μl/well PBS. After the wash, 20 μl of a 1:5 dilution (insterile water) of the stock Cell Culture Lysis Reagent (Luciferase AssaySystem, Promega Corp., Madison, Wis.) was added to each well, and theplates were incubated for 15 minutes at room temperature. The plateswere transferred to a Labsystems Luminoskan microtiter luminometer(Labsystems Inc., Morton Grove, Ill.) which added 40 μl of LuciferaseAssay Substrate (Luciferase Assay System, Promega), mixed the reactionfor three seconds and integrated the luciferase signal for two secondsper well. The fold induction of luciferase for each agonist wascalculated as follows:

    Fold induction=Induced signal-Uninduced signal/Uninduced Signal

Hollex1 and Hollex2 showed a 5-10 fold induction of luciferase (FIG. 3and FIG. 4) for human and salmon calcitonin. The control vector,Zem1698, showed no significant response to any of the agonistsmentioned.

The cAMP response of the transfectant clones Hollex1 and Hollex2 tocalcitonin and forskolin was also assayed by radioimmunoassay using thecAMP [¹²⁵ I] scintillation proximity assay system (Amersham) using themanufacturer's directions. Briefly, either 1×10⁵ cells per well or 3×10⁵cells per well were plated into the wells of a 24-well culture dish andgrown for 2 days (1×10⁵ cells per well) or overnight (3×10⁵ cells perwell) in selection medium. Calcitonin and forskolin were prepared inDMEM, 10% fetal calf serum, 10 μM IBMX at 0.0001-1000 nM and 25 μM,respectively.

The growth medium was replaced with 200 μl/well of agonist (eithercalcitonin or forskolin). The cells were incubated with the agonists for10 minutes at 37° C. in 5% CO₂. Following incubation, 800 μl of boilingwater was added to each well. After 15 minutes the supernatants werecollected and diluted 1:5 or 1:40 in acetate buffer (cAMP [¹²⁵ I]Scintillation Proximity Assay System (Amersham)). Samples wereacetylated using triethylamine and acetic anhydride according to theprotocol provided by the manufacturer.

A 100 μl aliquot of each acetylated sample was combined with 75 μl of¹²⁵ I-cAMP, 75 μl anti-succinyl cAMP antisera and 75 μl of donkeyanti-rabbit IgG coupled SPA beads (all assay solutions provided in thecAMP [¹²⁵ I] Scintillation Proximity Assay System (Amersham)) in a wellof an Dynatech MICROLITE 2 plate. The trays were sealed and incubatedovernight with continuous shaking on a rotary platform shaker at 200rpm. The samples were counted in a Packard Top Count MicroplateScintillation Counter (Packard Instrument Co., Meriden, Conn.). Astandard curve of 2-128 fmol acetylated cAMP was also run. Total ¹²⁵I-cAMP bound and nonspecific binding were also determined.

Hollex1 showed 12-fold induction of cAMP, Hollex2 showed a 5-foldinduction of cAMP levels at saturating Salmon calcitonin concentrations(10-100 nM), and an ED50 of 0.07 nM for Hollex1 AND 0.04 nM for Hollex2using Salmon calcitonin.

E. Binding and Competition Assays With Hollex1 and Hollex2

Clones Hollex1 and Hollex2 were tested for receptor-mediated ability tobind calcitonin using a competition assay. T47D cells were used as apositive control and BHK cells transfected with Zem1698 were used as anegative control.

The cells were plated at a density of 1×10⁵ cells/well in a 24-well cellculture dish and allowed to grow for 48 hours at 37° C. and 5% CO₂ ingrowth medium (described in previous examples). The cells were rinsed inbinding medium (500 ml RPMI 1640 (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.), 1 mg/mlbacitracin (Sigma), and 1 mg/ml BSA (Boehringer Mannheim)) to remove theserum. Three hundred microliters of binding medium containingradiolabeled ¹²⁵ I agonist and a serial dilution of unlabeled competitor(Table 1) were added to appropriate wells. The cells were incubated for1.5 hours at room temperature, and then rinsed 3 times with PBS toremove unincorporated radioactivity. Five hundred microliters of 0.25NNaOH was added to each well to solubilize the cells. The samples werecollected from each well and CPMs were counted on a gamma counter.

Data were entered and calculated using Kinetic, EBDA, Ligand, Loweryprogram from BIOSOFT (Cambridge, U.K.), according to manufacturer'sspecification. The results of additional experiments are summarized inTable 2.

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        Ability of cloned human calcitonin receptor to bind                           human (A) and salmon (B) calcitonin in competition assays.                    ______________________________________                                        A. Human calcitonin concentrations                                            .sup.125 I calcitonin.sup.a                                                                Unlabeled calcitonin                                                                        Results (cpms).sup.b                               ______________________________________                                        8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   50       nM       319                                            8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   30       nM       533                                            8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   10       nM       1186                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   3        nM       2781                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   1        nM       4657                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   0.3      nM       5488                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   0.1      nM       6255                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   0.03     nM       6518                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   0.01     nM       6610                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   0.003    nM       6554                                           8.7 × 10.sup.-3 nM                                                                   0                 6886                                           ______________________________________                                        B. Salmon calcitonin concentrations                                           .sup.125 I Calcitonin.sup.c                                                                Unlabeled calcitonin                                                                        Results.sup.b                                      ______________________________________                                        1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   50       nM       147                                            1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   30       nM       458                                            1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   10       nM       558                                            1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   3        nM       1639                                           1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   1        nM       4132                                           1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   0.3      nM       8421                                           1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   0.1      nM       9711                                           1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   0.03     nM       10262                                          1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   0.01     nM       10278                                          1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   0.003    nM       10430                                          1.7 × 10.sup.-2 nM                                                                   0                 10389                                          ______________________________________                                         .sup.a Specific activity of 1.9 × 10.sup.3 Ci/mM.                       .sup.b A baseline control of 27 cpm was established using 200 nM unlabele     salmon calcitonin to ensure that all the radiolabeled calcitonin was          competed out.                                                                 .sup.c specific activity of 945 Ci/mM.                                   

                                      TABLE 2                                     __________________________________________________________________________    Summary of binding studies                                                            T47D                                                                          (pos. control)                                                                          Hollex1   Hollex2                                           __________________________________________________________________________    No. receptors/                                                                        30-40,000 800,000   100,000                                           cell                                                                          Kd (nM, avg.)                                                                         hCT = 2.1 ± 0.3                                                                      hCT = 4 ± 2.5                                                                        hCT = 1.7 ± 0.1                                        sCT = 0.6 ± 0.5                                                                      sCT = 0.5 ± 0.2                                                                      sCT = 0.3 ± 0.01                               __________________________________________________________________________

The above results clearly indicate that the human calcitonin receptorclones bind both human and salmon calcitonin, with a greater affinityfor human calcitonin compared to the salmon peptide.

F. Binding and Composition Assays with Plaex

A pool of transfectants expressing the plaex 1 was tested forreceptor-mediated binding to calcitonin using a competition assay.Hollex1 was used as a positive control and BHK cells transfected withZem228R were used as a negative control.

The cells were plated at a density of 1×10⁵ cells/well in a 24-well cellculture dish and allowed to grow for 48 hours at 37° C. and 5% CO₂ ingrowth medium (described in previous examples). The cells were rinsed inbinding medium as described in Example IIE. Three hundred microliters ofhot binding medium containing 10 nM hCT and 5 μCi/ml ¹²⁵ I hCT. Coldcompetition was achieved by adding unlabelled hCT to a finalconcentration of 1 μM were added to appropriate wells. The cells wereincubated 1.5 hours at room temperature. Unincorporated radioactivitywas removed by three washes with PBS. Five hundred microliters of 1NNaOH was added to each well to solublize the cells. Each sample wascounted on a gamma counter. The data are presented in Table 3.

                  TABLE 3                                                         ______________________________________                                        cell line      hot (cpm)   hot/cold (cpm)                                     ______________________________________                                        plaex1         80,000      38,000                                             Hollex1        96,000      23,000                                             BHK/Zem228R    147         105                                                ______________________________________                                    

The above results clearly indicate that the BHK transfectants thatexpress the human placental subtype calcitonin receptor binds humancalcitonin.

G. Inositol Triphosphate Assay

BHK 570 cells expressing the calcitonin receptor from pHollex ormock-transfected BHK 570 cells were plated into 24-well tissue culturedishes at about 200,000 cells per well. After 24 hours, the cells ineach well were labeled by incubation in 0.5 ml of Dulbecco's ModifiedEagles Medium (DMEM, JRH Biosciences, Lenexa, Kans.) containing 10%fetal calf serum and 4.0 μCi/ml of myo-(2-³ H) inositol (specificactivity=20 Ci/mmol; Amersham). At the end of a 24 hour incubation, thecells were washed with 1 ml prewarmed DMEM that had been buffered with20 mM Hepes, pH 7.0 (Sigma Chemical Co.) containing 10 mM LiCl. The washmedium was removed by aspiration and replaced with 900 μl of freshbuffered medium. The cells were incubated for five to fifteen minutes at37° C. After incubation, appropriate concentration of each agonist orantagonist was added to triplicate wells, and the cells were incubatedfor 30 minutes at 37° C.

The reaction was terminated by placing the cells on ice. Followingaspiration of the media, the cells were then lysed by the addition of 1ml of cold DMEM and 1 ml of ice-cold 10% perchloric acid. After tenminutes the cell lysates were transferred to tubes containing 500 μl of10 mM EDTA, pH 7.0. The samples were neutralized by the addition of 900μl of 1.5M KOH in 60 mM Hepes buffer and dropwise addition of theKOH-Hepes solution until a pH between 7 and 7.5 was reached. Theneutralized samples were frozen at -20° C. overnight. The frozen sampleswere thawed, and the precipitate was allowed to settle out of thesamples. The supernatants were applied to AMPREP minicolumns that hadbeen sequentially washed with 5 ml each of methanol and 1M KHCO₃followed by a wash with 15 ml of water. After the samples were applied,the flow-through was collected. The column was washed with 1 ml of waterfour times and 1 ml samples were collected after each wash. The inositolphosphates were eluted from the column by four successive 1 mlapplications of 0.25M KHCO₃ with 1 ml samples collected after eachapplication. Ten milliliters of OPTIFLUOR (Packard Instrument Co.,Menden, Conn.) were added to each sample, and the samples were counted.Stimulation of the inositol phosphate pathway was indicated by anincrease in labeled inositol phosphate levels. The ED₅₀ for humancalcitonin in Hollex1 was 6 nM and for salmon calcitonin was 9.5 nM.Hollex2 showed no response.

H. Calcium Analysis

Intracellular calcium responses of Hollex1 to calcitonin were assayedessentially as described by Grynkiewicz et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 260:3440-3450, 1985, incorporated herein by reference). Transfectants wereseeded into 2 well coverglass chambers (NUNC) at 5×10⁴ cells perchamber. The cells were grown for between one and three days undernormal culture conditions in G 418 and methotrexate selection medium.The medium was removed by aspiration, and the chambers were rinsed twicewith 1 ml Imaging Buffer (140 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES, 5.6 mM glucose, 5 mMKCl, 1 mM CaCl₂).

After the final rinse 0.5 ml of Fura-2 AM Solution (50 mg fura-2 AM(Molecular Probes, Inc., Eugene, Oreg.), 50 ml DMSO, 5 ml ImagingBuffer), the cells were incubated for 30 minutes in the dark at roomtemperature. After incubation, the Fura-2 AM Solution was removed andthe cells rinsed three times with 1 ml Imaging Buffer. After the finalrinse, 0.5 ml of buffer was left in each chamber. The cells were held inthe dark at room temperature from 30 to 120 minutes. Imaging wasperformed on a Nikon Diaphot inverted fluorescence microscope equippedwith a mercury arc lamp and 10× and 40× Nikon Fluor dry objectivelenses. Experiments were controlled and analyzed using a SunMicrosystems (Mountain View, Calif.) SPARC II workstation and Inovision(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) RATIOTOOL software. Alternate excitationwavelengths were controlled by this software through an automated filterwheel containing 340 nm and 380 nm band pass filters. Emission imageswere directed by a dichroic mirror (380 nm cutoff) to a Dage-MTI 72 CCDcamera equipped with a Genesis II image intensifier and digitallyrecorded. Results showed that 30-70% of Hollex1 cells had a calciumresponse to calcitonin. Fewer Hollex2 cells showed a response (1-5%).

The plasmid pHOLLEX was deposited as an E. coli XL-1 blue transformantwith the American Type Culture Collection, 12301 Parklawn Drive,Rockville, Md. on Sep. 1, 1992 as Accession No. 69067.

EXAMPLE III

BHK cells expressing the cloned calcitonin receptor were assayed todetermine their response to extracellular calcium. Cells were washedthree times with a buffer (140 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 0.5 mM MgCl₂, 0.5 mMCaCl₂ (concentration varied in some experiments), 10 mM glucose, 10 mMHEPES, pH 7.4) made using high purity salts (Aldrich, Milwaukee, Wis.)and sterile water (Baxter, McGaw Park, Ill.). Cells were loaded withfura-2 AM (Molecular Probes Inc.) (10 μg/ml) for 30 minutes essentiallyas described above, then washed an additional three times. Slides weremounted at room temperature on an inverted microscope (EPIPHOT, Nikon),and a field of cells (typically 20-30 cells) was located using a 40×Nikon fluor objective. The ratio of fura-2 emission at excitationwavelengths of 340 and 380 nm was recorded every 5 seconds. Individualcells were analyzed on a computer workstation (Sun Microsystems) using asoftware system designed for ratio imaging (Inovision). Theconcentration of calcium chloride in buffers was determined bycomparison to calcium standards on a calcium analyzer (Nova BiomedicalCorp. Waltham, Mass.). All experiments were reproduced three to eighttimes. Fura-2 ratio 340 nm to 380 nm values (R) were converted to [Ca²⁺]_(i) concentrations after calibration of the instrument using theformula: calcium (nm)=2240[R-0.3)/(20-R)]. Basal [Ca²⁺ ]_(i)concentrations were typically 80-150 nm. The peak fura-2 ratios 340/380of individual cells exposed to 20 nm salmon calcitonin followed by 25 mMcalcium chloride were averaged for some experiments and converted to[Ca²⁺ ]_(i) concentrations. Standard error was calculated at a 99% levelusing a Z score of 2.58 (n>30).

A transfected BHK cell line expressing about 700,000 calcitoninreceptors/cell showed maximal transient [Ca²⁺ ]_(i) increases with 10-20nm salmon or human calcitonin. Application of 25 mM extracellularcalcium chloride to the same cells (following a five-minute period ofdarkness to reduce the total exposure of cells to UV light) with orwithout calcitonin pretreatment produced a rapid and sustained increasein [Ca₂₊ ]_(i). The magnitude of the latter response was comparable tothat induced by calcitonin and was not significantly altered (p<0.01) bycalcitonin pretreatment. The response to 25 mM extracellular calciumchloride returned to an elevated basal level in about 20 minutes.Addition of 25 mM extracellular calcium for two minutes followed by acontinuous wash with cell buffer resulted in a rapid and transientincrease in [Ca²⁺ ]_(i). Addition of 73 mM KCl instead of CaCl₂ had noeffect.

Transfected BHK cell lines expressing human calcitonin receptor levelsof 100,000 and 150,000 receptors/cell were also assayed. Both cell linesresponded to calcitonin and extracellular calcium with increases in[Ca²⁺ ]_(i). These cells showed a marked potentiation of the response toextracellular calcium by calcitonin pretreatment. Control BHK cell linesshowed no response to extracellular calcium.

The peak [Ca₂₊ ]_(i) of single cells in response to both calcitonin andextracellular calcium was averaged (±S.E. at p<0.01) for each cell lineexpressing the calcitonin receptor. The average peak responses wereproportional to the average number of receptors per cell expressed by agiven cell line.

The dose response to extracellular calcium was characterized in the cellline expressing 700,000 receptors/cell. A significant response wasobserved with as little as a 2 mM increase in extracellular calcium overbasal (1.3 mM), and maximum response occurred at approximately 14 mM.The effective concentration for half-maximal response was 8-10 mM asdetermined from an apparently linear double reciprocal plot ofextracellular calcium concentration vs. area of response under eachcurve. These dose-response concentrations of extracellular calcium aresimilar to those reported to induce elevated [Ca₂₊ ]_(i) in isolatedosteoclasts.

It is evident from the above results that the subject invention providescloned human calcitonin receptors and cells which express the clonedreceptors. The vectors containing the cloned sequences and cells whichexpress them find use in, inter alia, methods for screening andidentifying agonists useful in treating and preventing osteoporosis andother diseases characterized by abnormal bone resorption. Furthermore,the invention provides economical methods to prepare human calcitoninreceptors, conveniently from large scale expression systems.

All publications and patent applications mentioned in this specificationare indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art towhich this invention pertains. All publications, patents and patentapplications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent asif each individual publication, patent or patent application wasspecifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein byreference.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity ofunderstanding, it will be obvious that certain changes and modificationsmay be practiced within the scope of the appended claims.

    __________________________________________________________________________    SEQUENCE LISTING                                                              (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                      (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 27                                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 3012 base pairs                                                   (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA                                                      (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: pHOLLEX                                                            (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                             (B) LOCATION: 52..1476                                                        (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:                                       GAATTCGCGGCCGCCAGAATTCCAGGACAAAGAGATCTTCAAAAATCAAAAATGAGG57                   MetArg                                                                        TTCACATTTACAAGCCGGTGCTTGGCACTGTTTCTTCTTCTAAATCAC105                           PheThrPheThrSerArgCysLeuAlaLeuPheLeuLeuLeuAsnHis                              51015                                                                         CCAACCCCAATTCTTCCTGCCTTTTCAAATCAAACCTATCCAACAATA153                           ProThrProIleLeuProAlaPheSerAsnGlnThrTyrProThrIle                              202530                                                                        GAGCCCAAGCCATTTCTTTACGTCGTAGGACGAAAGAAGATGATGGAT201                           GluProLysProPheLeuTyrValValGlyArgLysLysMetMetAsp                              35404550                                                                      GCACAGTACAAATGCTATGACCGAATGCAGCAGTTACCCGCATACCAA249                           AlaGlnTyrLysCysTyrAspArgMetGlnGlnLeuProAlaTyrGln                              556065                                                                        GGAGAAGGTCCATATTGCAATCGCACCTGGGATGGATGGCTGTGCTGG297                           GlyGluGlyProTyrCysAsnArgThrTrpAspGlyTrpLeuCysTrp                              707580                                                                        GATGACACACCGGCTGGAGTATTGTCCTATCAGTTCTGCCCAGATTAT345                           AspAspThrProAlaGlyValLeuSerTyrGlnPheCysProAspTyr                              859095                                                                        TTTCCGGATTTTGATCCATCAGAAAAGGTTACAAAATACTGTGATGAA393                           PheProAspPheAspProSerGluLysValThrLysTyrCysAspGlu                              100105110                                                                     AAAGGTGTTTGGTTTAAACATCCTGAAAACAATCGAACCTGGTCCAAC441                           LysGlyValTrpPheLysHisProGluAsnAsnArgThrTrpSerAsn                              115120125130                                                                  TATACTATGTGCAATGCTTTCACTCCTGAGAAACTGAAGAATGCATAT489                           TyrThrMetCysAsnAlaPheThrProGluLysLeuLysAsnAlaTyr                              135140145                                                                     GTTCTGTACTATTTGGCTATTGTGGGTCATTCTTTGTCAATTTTCACC537                           ValLeuTyrTyrLeuAlaIleValGlyHisSerLeuSerIlePheThr                              150155160                                                                     CTAGTGATTTCCCTGGGGATTTTCGTGTTTTTCAGGAGCCTTGGCTGC585                           LeuValIleSerLeuGlyIlePheValPhePheArgSerLeuGlyCys                              165170175                                                                     CAAAGGGTAACCCTGCACAAGAACATGTTTCTTACTTACATTCTGAAT633                           GlnArgValThrLeuHisLysAsnMetPheLeuThrTyrIleLeuAsn                              180185190                                                                     TCTATGATTATCATCATCCACCTGGTTGAAGTAGTACCCAATGGAGAG681                           SerMetIleIleIleIleHisLeuValGluValValProAsnGlyGlu                              195200205210                                                                  CTCGTGCGAAGGGACCCGGTGAGCTGCAAGATTTTGCATTTTTTCCAC729                           LeuValArgArgAspProValSerCysLysIleLeuHisPhePheHis                              215220225                                                                     CAGTACATGATGGCCTGCAACTATTTCTGGATGCTCTGTGAAGGGATC777                           GlnTyrMetMetAlaCysAsnTyrPheTrpMetLeuCysGluGlyIle                              230235240                                                                     TATCTTCATACACTCATTGTCGTGGCTGTGTTTACTGAGAAGCAACGC825                           TyrLeuHisThrLeuIleValValAlaValPheThrGluLysGlnArg                              245250255                                                                     TTGCGGTGGTATTATCTCTTGGGCTGGGGGTTCCCGCTGGTGCCAACC873                           LeuArgTrpTyrTyrLeuLeuGlyTrpGlyPheProLeuValProThr                              260265270                                                                     ACTATCCATGCTATTACCAGGGCCGTGTACTTCAATGACAACTGCTGG921                           ThrIleHisAlaIleThrArgAlaValTyrPheAsnAspAsnCysTrp                              275280285290                                                                  CTGAGTGTGGAAACCCATTTGCTTTACATAATCCATGGACCTGTCATG969                           LeuSerValGluThrHisLeuLeuTyrIleIleHisGlyProValMet                              295300305                                                                     GCGGCACTTGTGGTCAATTTCTTCTTTTTGCTCAACATTGTCCGGGTG1017                          AlaAlaLeuValValAsnPhePhePheLeuLeuAsnIleValArgVal                              310315320                                                                     CTTGTGACCAAAATGAGGGAAACCCATGAGGCGGAATCCCACATGTAC1065                          LeuValThrLysMetArgGluThrHisGluAlaGluSerHisMetTyr                              325330335                                                                     CTGAAGGCTGTGAAGGCCACCATGATCCTTGTGCCCCTGCTGGGAATC1113                          LeuLysAlaValLysAlaThrMetIleLeuValProLeuLeuGlyIle                              340345350                                                                     CAGTTTGTCGTCTTTCCCTGGAGACCTTCCAACAAGATGCTTGGGAAG1161                          GlnPheValValPheProTrpArgProSerAsnLysMetLeuGlyLys                              355360365370                                                                  ATATATGATTACGTGATGCACTCTCTGATTCATTTCCAGGGCTTCTTT1209                          IleTyrAspTyrValMetHisSerLeuIleHisPheGlnGlyPhePhe                              375380385                                                                     GTTGCGACCATCTACTGCTTCTGCAACAATGAGGTCCAAACCACCGTG1257                          ValAlaThrIleTyrCysPheCysAsnAsnGluValGlnThrThrVal                              390395400                                                                     AAGCGCCAATGGGCCCAATTCAAAATTCAGTGGAACCAGCGTTGGGGG1305                          LysArgGlnTrpAlaGlnPheLysIleGlnTrpAsnGlnArgTrpGly                              405410415                                                                     AGGCGCCCCTCCAACCGCTCTGCTCGCGCTGCAGCCGCTGCTGCGGAG1353                          ArgArgProSerAsnArgSerAlaArgAlaAlaAlaAlaAlaAlaGlu                              420425430                                                                     GCTGGCGACATCCCAATTTACATCTGCCATCAGGAGCTGAGGAATGAA1401                          AlaGlyAspIleProIleTyrIleCysHisGlnGluLeuArgAsnGlu                              435440445450                                                                  CCAGCCAACAACCAAGGCGAGGAGAGTGCTGAGATCATCCCTTTGAAT1449                          ProAlaAsnAsnGlnGlyGluGluSerAlaGluIleIleProLeuAsn                              455460465                                                                     ATCATAGAGCAAGAGTCATCTGCTTGAATGTAAGGCAAACACAGCATCGTGATC1503                    IleIleGluGlnGluSerSerAla                                                      470475                                                                        ACTGAGCCATCATTTCCTGGGAGAAAGACCATGCATTTAAAGTATTCTCCATCCTCCCAG1563              GAACCGAACATATCATTTGTGAAGAATTATTCAGTGAATTTGTCCATTGTAAATCTGAAG1623              AAAGTTATTCTTGGTACTGTTGCTTTGGGAGACAGTCTAGGAATGGAGTCTCCCACTGCA1683              ACTTGTGAACTCCATCATTCATCCAGGACTGAGATGCAAATGTCACAGTAATGCAAGCAA1743              AGTATCAAAGAAAAACAATGAAATTGACCTAGTTCAGATACAGGGTGCTCCTTGTCAATA1803              CTGAGCCATTTATACCTTTGAAATATTAAAATCACTGTCAATATTTTTATTTTTAACTCT1863              GGATTTTGAATTAGATTATTTCTGTATTTGGCTATGGATCTGATTTTTAATTTTTTTAAA1923              TTTCAGTCAATTCTGATGTTACTGAGATGTTTTACCATCCTTACAATGTAAACCACATGA1983              ACTACGTGACCTCTGCAAGACAAAGCGGCTTTCTAATAGAGAGATTAGTAAATATGTGAA2043              GAAAAAGACCTGCATTTGGCAGAAGATGTATGCTTTGAATGCAAAAGAAATTTAGAGTCA2103              ATTTGCTGAAAACATTACATGCTCAGCTTGGTTTTGGACAAGCCTGTCCATTGGGCAGGA2163              CCTAGCTGTTGTAAAGAATTGGTCTTAATGTTGAATGTATTTTGGTTGCTGATGTTTATA2223              AACTGAGAGGTCACAAAGAATCTATCACTAAAAATTTTTACAAAACTGCCAAAAATATAA2283              TTCTTAGTGGAAGACAATACTCCCTTTAAAGAGAGTTTGCCACTCCCCTAAACTCCAGGA2343              TTTATAAAGCAAATTACTCCAAGGTTTATAAAGCAGATTACCTCTTGCCCTTGGGTGCTA2403              TCTAGCAGTAAAAGATAAATTTGTTGAATATTGGTAATTAAAAGACTCCACATAAGTCCA2463              TTAACTGCTTTCCACCCAGCTTCAAAGTCCAAAAAGAGCTCAGGCTTTTCCAGGAAGATC2523              CAGGAGGGCTAATTAGAAATCAACTTGTGGTTGACCGCTTGTTTCTTGTTATTACCAAAC2583              AGGAGGGGAAAAAATTAACTGCTCCAAATTTAACCATAAATCAATTCATGTTTAACGTTT2643              CTCATTAAAATCCAGTATTATATTATCATATCTCTCTTTACTTCCCAGTATAAGATTTTT2703              GAAAATCCTGAATAAACCAGTATCGTTACTGGCACCTGAAATTAATTTGTGAATTTGCAA2763              CAGTAATCAGAGTTACCATTATTTAATTTGTATGCTAAATGAGGAGGTACATTGAAACCC2823              TCCAAATCTCCAGTCTCATCTATGTCATATTTTGCCACTGCCTTTCAGAAGTGATTTAGT2883              TGTGGAAAGATAATAAATTGATTTGTTATGGTTACATATTTAGCGCACCCAGAGAAAATT2943              AATTATATTTCTACAGAGAAAATGAATTTGGGATACTAAAGTAGTTTAAGTCTCCTTTAC3003              TGAATGAAA3012                                                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 474 amino acids                                                   (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                          (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                   (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:                                       MetArgPheThrPheThrSerArgCysLeuAlaLeuPheLeuLeuLeu                              151015                                                                        AsnHisProThrProIleLeuProAlaPheSerAsnGlnThrTyrPro                              202530                                                                        ThrIleGluProLysProPheLeuTyrValValGlyArgLysLysMet                              354045                                                                        MetAspAlaGlnTyrLysCysTyrAspArgMetGlnGlnLeuProAla                              505560                                                                        TyrGlnGlyGluGlyProTyrCysAsnArgThrTrpAspGlyTrpLeu                              65707580                                                                      CysTrpAspAspThrProAlaGlyValLeuSerTyrGlnPheCysPro                              859095                                                                        AspTyrPheProAspPheAspProSerGluLysValThrLysTyrCys                              100105110                                                                     AspGluLysGlyValTrpPheLysHisProGluAsnAsnArgThrTrp                              115120125                                                                     SerAsnTyrThrMetCysAsnAlaPheThrProGluLysLeuLysAsn                              130135140                                                                     AlaTyrValLeuTyrTyrLeuAlaIleValGlyHisSerLeuSerIle                              145150155160                                                                  PheThrLeuValIleSerLeuGlyIlePheValPhePheArgSerLeu                              165170175                                                                     GlyCysGlnArgValThrLeuHisLysAsnMetPheLeuThrTyrIle                              180185190                                                                     LeuAsnSerMetIleIleIleIleHisLeuValGluValValProAsn                              195200205                                                                     GlyGluLeuValArgArgAspProValSerCysLysIleLeuHisPhe                              210215220                                                                     PheHisGlnTyrMetMetAlaCysAsnTyrPheTrpMetLeuCysGlu                              225230235240                                                                  GlyIleTyrLeuHisThrLeuIleValValAlaValPheThrGluLys                              245250255                                                                     GlnArgLeuArgTrpTyrTyrLeuLeuGlyTrpGlyPheProLeuVal                              260265270                                                                     ProThrThrIleHisAlaIleThrArgAlaValTyrPheAsnAspAsn                              275280285                                                                     CysTrpLeuSerValGluThrHisLeuLeuTyrIleIleHisGlyPro                              290295300                                                                     ValMetAlaAlaLeuValValAsnPhePhePheLeuLeuAsnIleVal                              305310315320                                                                  ArgValLeuValThrLysMetArgGluThrHisGluAlaGluSerHis                              325330335                                                                     MetTyrLeuLysAlaValLysAlaThrMetIleLeuValProLeuLeu                              340345350                                                                     GlyIleGlnPheValValPheProTrpArgProSerAsnLysMetLeu                              355360365                                                                     GlyLysIleTyrAspTyrValMetHisSerLeuIleHisPheGlnGly                              370375380                                                                     PhePheValAlaThrIleTyrCysPheCysAsnAsnGluValGlnThr                              385390395400                                                                  ThrValLysArgGlnTrpAlaGlnPheLysIleGlnTrpAsnGlnArg                              405410415                                                                     TrpGlyArgArgProSerAsnArgSerAlaArgAlaAlaAlaAlaAla                              420425430                                                                     AlaGluAlaGlyAspIleProIleTyrIleCysHisGlnGluLeuArg                              435440445                                                                     AsnGluProAlaAsnAsnGlnGlyGluGluSerAlaGluIleIlePro                              450455460                                                                     LeuAsnIleIleGluGlnGluSerSerAla                                                465470                                                                        (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 71 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC982                                                              (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:                                       AATTCCCCTCCCGCGAAGGCGTCGGCGCGGGGCTGGCGTAGGGCCTGCGTCAGCTGCAGC60                CCGCCGGAGCT71                                                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 63 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC983                                                              (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4:                                       CCGGCGGGCTGCAGCTGACGCAGGCCCTACGCCAGCCCCGCGCCGACGCCTTCGCGGGAG60                GGG63                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC1773                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5:                                       AATTAGGGAGACCGGAATTCTGTGCTCTGTCAA33                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC1774                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6:                                       AATTTTGACAGAGCACAGAATTCCGGTCTCCCT33                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 38 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC3509                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:7:                                       CAAATTGACGTCATGGTAAAAATTGACGTCATGGTAAG38                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:8:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 46 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC3510                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:8:                                       AATTCTTACCATGACGTCAATTTTTACCATGACGTCAATTTGAGCT46                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:9:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 42 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC4418                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:9:                                       TTAATTAAGGACTCTCCTGCAGTGGATGCCTTAATTAATGCA42                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:10:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 42 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC4419                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:10:                                      TTAATTAAGGCATCCACTGCAGGAGAGTCCTTAATTAATGCA42                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:11:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 26 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC4698                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:11:                                      ACTCTCCGGTTRCARAARCARTADAT26                                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:12:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 26 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC4699                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:12:                                      CATCCACGGCAYAARAAYATGTTYYT26                                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:13:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 11 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC3168                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:13:                                      AATTGAGCTCG11                                                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:14:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 11 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC3169                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:14:                                      AATTCGAGCTC11                                                                 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:15:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 44 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC2938                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:15:                                      GACAGAGCACAGAATTCACTAGTGAGCTCTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT44                                (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:16:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5471                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:16:                                      TACCCGCATACCAAGGAGAAG21                                                       (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:17:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 22 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5468                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:17:                                      AAGAGATAATACCACCGCAAGC22                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:18:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 22 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5469                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:18:                                      CCATCAGAAAAGGTTACAAAAT22                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:19:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 22 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5474                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:19:                                      CACAGAGCATCCAGAAATAGTT22                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:20:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 35 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5993                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:20:                                      CAGCCAAGGCTCAATGCCTTCCTGAAAAACACGAA35                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:21:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 53 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5162                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:21:                                      AATTCTATGATTATCATCATCCACCTGGTTGAAGTAGTACCCAATGGAGACCT53                       (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:22:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5470                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:22:                                      TTGCGGTGGTATTATCTCTTG21                                                       (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:23:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: ZC5465                                                             (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23:                                      TGTTGGCTGGTTCATTCCTCA21                                                       (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:24:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 3416 base pairs                                                   (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA                                                      (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: pOvex                                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                             (B) LOCATION: 52..594                                                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:24:                                      GAATTCGCGGCCGCCAGAATTCCAGGACAAAGAGATCTTCAAAAATCAAAAATGAGG57                   MetArg                                                                        1                                                                             TTCACATTTACAAGCCGGTGCTTGGCACTGTTTCTTCTTCTAAATCAC105                           PheThrPheThrSerArgCysLeuAlaLeuPheLeuLeuLeuAsnHis                              51015                                                                         CCAACCCCAATTCTTCCTGCCTTTTCAAATCAAACCTATCCAACAATA153                           ProThrProIleLeuProAlaPheSerAsnGlnThrTyrProThrIle                              202530                                                                        GAGCCCAAGCCATTTCTTTACGTCGTAGGACGAAAGAAGATGATGGAT201                           GluProLysProPheLeuTyrValValGlyArgLysLysMetMetAsp                              35404550                                                                      GCACAGTACAAATGCTATGACCGAATGCAGCAGTTACCCGCATACCAA249                           AlaGlnTyrLysCysTyrAspArgMetGlnGlnLeuProAlaTyrGln                              556065                                                                        GGAGAAGGTCCATATTGCAATCGCACCTGGGATGGATGGCTGTGCTGG297                           GlyGluGlyProTyrCysAsnArgThrTrpAspGlyTrpLeuCysTrp                              707580                                                                        GATGACACACCGGCTGGAGTATTGTCCTATCAGTTCTGCCCAGATTAT345                           AspAspThrProAlaGlyValLeuSerTyrGlnPheCysProAspTyr                              859095                                                                        TTTCCGGATTTTGATCCATCAGAAAAGGTTACAAAATACTGTGATGAA393                           PheProAspPheAspProSerGluLysValThrLysTyrCysAspGlu                              100105110                                                                     AAAGGTGTTTGGTTTAAACATCCTGAAAACAATCGAACCTGGTCCAAC441                           LysGlyValTrpPheLysHisProGluAsnAsnArgThrTrpSerAsn                              115120125130                                                                  TATACTATGTGCAATGCTTTCACTCCTGAGAAACTGAAGAATGCATAT489                           TyrThrMetCysAsnAlaPheThrProGluLysLeuLysAsnAlaTyr                              135140145                                                                     GTTCTGTACTATTTGGCTATTGTGGGTCATTCTTTGTCAATTTTCACC537                           ValLeuTyrTyrLeuAlaIleValGlyHisSerLeuSerIlePheThr                              150155160                                                                     CTAGTGATTTCCCTGGGGATTTTCGTGTTTTTCAGTTCTCATGTTTAT585                           LeuValIleSerLeuGlyIlePheValPhePheSerSerHisValTyr                              165170175                                                                     CATGAATAACACGTGATCCTAGGAGCCTTGGCTGCCAAAGGGTAACCCTGCACAAG641                   HisGlu                                                                        180                                                                           AACATGTTTCTTACTTACATTCTGAATTCTATGATTATCATCATCCACCTGGTTGAAGTA701               GTACCCAATGGAGAGCTCGTGCGAAGGGACCCGGTGAGCTGCAAGATTTTGCATTTTTTC761               CACCAGTACATGATGGCCTGCAACTATTTCTGGATGCTCTGTGAAGGGATCTATCTTCAT821               ACACTCATTGTCGTGGCTGTGTTTACTGAGAAGCAACGCTTGCGGTGGTATTATCTCTTG881               GGCTGGGGGTTCCCGCTGGTGCCAACCACTATCCATGCTATTACCAGGGCCGTGTACTTC941               AATGACAACTGCTGGCTGAGTGTGGAAACCCATTTGCTTTACATAATCCATGGACCTGTC1001              ATGGCGGCACTTGTGGTCAATTTCTTCTTTTTGCTCAACATTGTCCGGGTGCTTGTGACC1061              AAAATGAGGGAAACCCATGAGGCGGAATCCCACATGTACCTGAAGGCTGTGAAGGCCACC1121              ATGATCCTTGTGCCCCTGCTGGGAATCCAGTTTGTCGTCTTTCCCTGGAGACCTTCCAAC1181              AAGATGCTTGGGAAGATATATGATTACGTGATGCACTCTCTGATTCATTTCCAGGGCTTC1241              TTTGTTGCGACCATCTACTGCTTCTGCAACAATGAGGTCCAAACCACCGTGAAGCGCCAA1301              TGGGCCCAATTCAAAATTCAGTGGAACCAGCGTTGGGGGAGGCGCCCCTCCAACCGCTCT1361              GCTCGCGCTGCAGCCGCTGCTGCGGAGGCTGGCGACATCCCAATTTACATCTGCCATCAG1421              GAGCTGAGGAATGAACCAGCCAACAACCAAGGCGAGGAGAGTGCTGAGATCATCCCTTTG1481              AATATCATAGAGCAAGAGTCATCTGCTTGAATGTGAAGGCAAACACAGCATCGTGATCAC1541              TGAGCCATCATTTCCTGGGAGAAAGACCATGCATTTAAAGTATTCTCCATCCTCCCAGGA1601              ACCGAACATATCATTTGTGAAGAATTATTCAGTGAATTTGTCCATTGTAAATCTGAAGAA1661              AGTTATTCTTGGTACTGTTGCTTTGGGAGACAGTCTAGGAATGGAGTCTCCCACTGCAAC1721              TTGTGAACTCCATCATTCATCCAGGACTGAGATGCAAATGTCACAGTAATGCAAGCAAAG1781              TATCAAAGAAAAACAATGAAATTGACCTAGTTCAGATACAGGGTGCTCCTTGTCAATACT1841              GAGCCATTTATACCTTTGAAATATTAAAATCACTGTCAATATTTTTATTTTTAACTCTGG1901              ATTTTGAATTAGATTATTTCTGTATTTGGCTATGGATCTGATTTTTAATTTTTTTAAATT1961              TCAGTCAATTCTGATGTTACTGAGATGTTTTACCATCCTTACAATGTAAACCACATGAAC2021              TACGTGACCTCTGCAAGACAAAGCGGCTTTCTAATAGAGAGATTAGTAAATATGTGAAGA2081              AAAAGACCTGCATTTGGCAGGAAGATGTATGCTTTGAATGCAAAAGAAATTTAGAGTCAA2141              TTTGCTGAAAACATTACATGCTCAGCTTGGTTTTGGACAAGCCTGTCCATTGGGCAGGAC2201              CTAGCTGTTGTAAAGAATTGGTCTTAATGTTGAATGTATTTTGGTTGCTGATGTTTATAA2261              ACTGAGAGGTCACAAAGAATCTATCACTAAAAATTTTTACAAAACTGCCAAAAATATAAT2321              TCTTAGTGGAAGACAATACTCCCTTTAAAGAGAGTTTGCCACTCCCCTAAACTCCAGGAT2381              TTATAAAGCAAATTACTCCAAGGTTTATAAAGCAGATTACCTCTTGCCCTTGGGTGCTAT2441              CTAGCAGTAAAAGATAAATTTGTTGAATATTGGTAATTAAAAGACTCCACATAAGTCCAT2501              TAACTGCTTTCCACCCAGCTTCAAAGCTTAAAAAGAGCTCAGGCTTTTCCAGGAAGATCC2561              AGGAGGGCTAATTAGAAATCAACTTGTGGTTGACCGCTTGTTTCTTGTTATTACCAAACA2621              GGAGGGGAAAAAATTAACTGCTCCAAATTTAACCATAAATCAATTCATGTTTAACGTTTC2681              TCATTAAAATCCAGTATTATATTATCATATCTCTCTTTACTTCCCAGTATAAGATTTTTG2741              AAAATCCTGAATAAACCAGTATCGTTACTGGCACCTGAAATTAATTTGTGAATTTGCAAC2801              AGTAATCAGAGTTACCATTATTTAATTTGTATGCTAAATGAGGAGGTACATTGAAACCCT2861              CCAAATCTCCAGTCTCATCTATGTCATATTTTGCCACTGCCTTTCAGAAGTGATTTAGTT2921              GTGGAAAGATAATAAATTGATTTGTTATGGTTACATATTTAGCGCACCCAGAGAAAATTA2981              ATTATATTTCTACAGAGAAAATGAATTTGGGATACTAAAGTAGTTTAAGTCTCCTTTACT3041              GAATGTAAGGGGGGGATCGAAAAGAAGGTATTTTTCCAATCACAGTGTTATGTAGTATTG3101              TTCTATTTTTGTTTACAAACATGGAAAACAGAGTATTTCTGGCAGCTGTGGTACAAATGT3161              GATAATATATTGCTAAAATATTTTAGATGTTATTATGCTAATATAGTAGGGGTTGAAGAA3221              AACAAAATAGCTTATTATAGAATTGCACATAGTTCTGCCCAAATTATGTGAAATGCTTAT3281              GCTTGTGTATATGTATAAATTAATACAGAGTACGTTAAAAGCAAAAAGATGTATATTTGC3341              ATATTTTTCTAAAGAAATATATTATTCATCTTTTCATTCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGAGCTC3401              AATTCCCGGGGATCC3416                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:25:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 180 amino acids                                                   (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                          (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                   (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:25:                                      MetArgPheThrPheThrSerArgCysLeuAlaLeuPheLeuLeuLeu                              151015                                                                        AsnHisProThrProIleLeuProAlaPheSerAsnGlnThrTyrPro                              202530                                                                        ThrIleGluProLysProPheLeuTyrValValGlyArgLysLysMet                              354045                                                                        MetAspAlaGlnTyrLysCysTyrAspArgMetGlnGlnLeuProAla                              505560                                                                        TyrGlnGlyGluGlyProTyrCysAsnArgThrTrpAspGlyTrpLeu                              65707580                                                                      CysTrpAspAspThrProAlaGlyValLeuSerTyrGlnPheCysPro                              859095                                                                        AspTyrPheProAspPheAspProSerGluLysValThrLysTyrCys                              100105110                                                                     AspGluLysGlyValTrpPheLysHisProGluAsnAsnArgThrTrp                              115120125                                                                     SerAsnTyrThrMetCysAsnAlaPheThrProGluLysLeuLysAsn                              130135140                                                                     AlaTyrValLeuTyrTyrLeuAlaIleValGlyHisSerLeuSerIle                              145150155160                                                                  PheThrLeuValIleSerLeuGlyIlePheValPhePheSerSerHis                              165170175                                                                     ValTyrHisGlu                                                                  180                                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:26:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 3390 base pairs                                                   (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                        (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA                                                      (vii) IMMEDIATE SOURCE:                                                       (B) CLONE: plaex                                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                 (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                             (B) LOCATION: 52..1485                                                        (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:26:                                      GAATTCGCGGCCGCCAGAATTCCAGGACAAAGAGATCTTCAAAAATCAAAAATGAGG57                   MetArg                                                                        1                                                                             TTCACATTTACAAGCCGGTGCTTGGCACTGTTTCTTCTTCTAAATCAC105                           PheThrPheThrSerArgCysLeuAlaLeuPheLeuLeuLeuAsnHis                              51015                                                                         CCAACCCCAATTCTTCCTGCCTTTTCAAATCAAACCTATCCAACAATA153                           ProThrProIleLeuProAlaPheSerAsnGlnThrTyrProThrIle                              202530                                                                        GAGCCCAAGCCATTTCTTTACGTCGTAGGACGAAAGAAGATGATGGAT201                           GluProLysProPheLeuTyrValValGlyArgLysLysMetMetAsp                              35404550                                                                      GCACAGTACAAATGCTATGACCGAATGCAGCAGTTACCCGCATACCAA249                           AlaGlnTyrLysCysTyrAspArgMetGlnGlnLeuProAlaTyrGln                              556065                                                                        GGAGAAGGTCCATATTGCAATCGCACCTGGGATGGATGGCTGTGCTGG297                           GlyGluGlyProTyrCysAsnArgThrTrpAspGlyTrpLeuCysTrp                              707580                                                                        GATGACACACCGGCTGGAGTATTGTCCTATCAGTTCTGCCCAGATTAT345                           AspAspThrProAlaGlyValLeuSerTyrGlnPheCysProAspTyr                              859095                                                                        TTTCCGGATTTTGATCCATCAGAAAAGGTTACAAAATACTGTGATGAA393                           PheProAspPheAspProSerGluLysValThrLysTyrCysAspGlu                              100105110                                                                     AAAGGTGTTTGGTTTAAACATCCTGAAAACAATCGAACCTGGTCCAAC441                           LysGlyValTrpPheLysHisProGluAsnAsnArgThrTrpSerAsn                              115120125130                                                                  TATACTATGTGCAATGCTTTCACTCCTGAGAAACTGAAGAATGCATAT489                           TyrThrMetCysAsnAlaPheThrProGluLysLeuLysAsnAlaTyr                              135140145                                                                     GTTCTGTACTATTTGGCTATTGTGGGTCATTCTTTGTCAATTTTCACC537                           ValLeuTyrTyrLeuAlaIleValGlyHisSerLeuSerIlePheThr                              150155160                                                                     CTAGTGATTTCCCTGGGGATTTTCGTGTTTTTCAGGAAGGCATTGAGC585                           LeuValIleSerLeuGlyIlePheValPhePheArgLysAlaLeuSer                              165170175                                                                     CTTGGCTGCCAAAGGGTAACCCTGCACAAGAACATGTTTCTTACTTAC633                           LeuGlyCysGlnArgValThrLeuHisLysAsnMetPheLeuThrTyr                              180185190                                                                     ATTCTGAATTCTATGATTATCATCATCCACCTGGTTGAAGTAGTACCC681                           IleLeuAsnSerMetIleIleIleIleHisLeuValGluValValPro                              195200205210                                                                  AATGGAGAGCTCGTGCGAAGGGACCCGGTGAGCTGCAAGATTTTGCAT729                           AsnGlyGluLeuValArgArgAspProValSerCysLysIleLeuHis                              215220225                                                                     TTTTTCCACCAGTACATGATGGCCTGCAACTATTTCTGGATGCTCTGT777                           PhePheHisGlnTyrMetMetAlaCysAsnTyrPheTrpMetLeuCys                              230235240                                                                     GAAGGGATCTATCTTCATACACTCATTGTCGTGGCTGTGTTTACTGAG825                           GluGlyIleTyrLeuHisThrLeuIleValValAlaValPheThrGlu                              245250255                                                                     AAGCAACGCTTGCGGTGGTATTATCTCTTGGGCTGGGGGTTCCCGCTG873                           LysGlnArgLeuArgTrpTyrTyrLeuLeuGlyTrpGlyPheProLeu                              260265270                                                                     GTGCCAACCACTATCCATGCTATTACCAGGGCCGTGTACTTCAATGAC921                           ValProThrThrIleHisAlaIleThrArgAlaValTyrPheAsnAsp                              275280285290                                                                  AACTGCTGGCTGAGTGTGGAAACCCATTTGCTTTACATAATCCATGGA969                           AsnCysTrpLeuSerValGluThrHisLeuLeuTyrIleIleHisGly                              295300305                                                                     CCTGTCATGGCGGCACTTGTGGTCAATTTCTTCTTTTTGCTCAACATT1017                          ProValMetAlaAlaLeuValValAsnPhePhePheLeuLeuAsnIle                              310315320                                                                     GTCCGGGTGCTTGTGACCAAAATGAGGGAAACCCATGAGGCGGAATCC1065                          ValArgValLeuValThrLysMetArgGluThrHisGluAlaGluSer                              325330335                                                                     CACATGTACCTGAAGGCTGTGAAGGCCACCATGATCCTTGTGCCCCTG1113                          HisMetTyrLeuLysAlaValLysAlaThrMetIleLeuValProLeu                              340345350                                                                     CTGGGAATCCAGTTTGTCGTCTTTCCCTGGAGACCTTCCAACAAGATG1161                          LeuGlyIleGlnPheValValPheProTrpArgProSerAsnLysMet                              355360365370                                                                  CTTGGGAAGATATATGATTACGTGATGCACTCTCTGATTCATTTCCAG1209                          LeuGlyLysIleTyrAspTyrValMetHisSerLeuIleHisPheGln                              375380385                                                                     GGCTTCTTTGTTGCGACCATCTACTGCTTCTGCAACAATGAGGTCCAA1257                          GlyPhePheValAlaThrIleTyrCysPheCysAsnAsnGluValGln                              390395400                                                                     ACCACCGTGAAGCGCCAATGGGCCCAATTCAAAATTCAGTGGAACCAG1305                          ThrThrValLysArgGlnTrpAlaGlnPheLysIleGlnTrpAsnGln                              405410415                                                                     CGTTGGGGGAGGCGCCCCTCCAACCGCTCTGCTCGCGCTGCAGCCGCT1353                          ArgTrpGlyArgArgProSerAsnArgSerAlaArgAlaAlaAlaAla                              420425430                                                                     GCTGCGGAGGCTGGCGACATCCCAATTTACATCTGCCATCAGGAGCTG1401                          AlaAlaGluAlaGlyAspIleProIleTyrIleCysHisGlnGluLeu                              435440445450                                                                  AGGAATGAACCAGCCAACAACCAAGGCGAGGAGAGTGCTGAGATCATC1449                          ArgAsnGluProAlaAsnAsnGlnGlyGluGluSerAlaGluIleIle                              455460465                                                                     CCTTTGAATATCATAGAGCAAGAGTCATCTGCTTGAATGTGAAGGCAAACACA1502                     ProLeuAsnIleIleGluGlnGluSerSerAla                                             470475                                                                        GCATCGTGATCACTGAGCCATCATTTCCTGGGAGAAAGACCATGCATTTAAAGTATTCTC1562              CATCCTCCCAGGAACCGAACATATCATTTGTGAAGAATTATTCAGTGAATTTGTCCATTG1622              TAAATCTGAAGAAAGTTATTCTTGGTACTGTTGCTTTGGGAGACAGTCTAGGAATGGAGT1682              CTCCCACTGCAACTTGTGAACTCCATCATTCATCCAGGACTGAGATGCAAATGTCACAGT1742              AATGCAAGCAAAGTATCAAAGAAAAACAATGAAATTGACCTAGTTCAGATACAGGGTGCT1802              CCTTGTCAATACTGAGCCATTTATACCTTTGAAATATTAAAATCACTGTCAATATTTTTA1862              TTTTTAACTCTGGATTTTGAATTAGATTATTTCTGTATTTGGCTATGGATCTGATTTTTA1922              ATTTTTTTAAATTTCAGTCAATTCTGATGTTACTGAGATGTTTTACCATCCTTACAATGT1982              AAACCACATGAACTACGTGACCTCTGCAAGACAAAGCGGCTTTCTAATAGAGAGATTAGT2042              AAATATGTGAAGAAAAAGACCTGCATTTGGCAGGAAGATGTATGCTTTGAATGCAAAAGA2102              AATTTAGAGTCAATTTGCTGAAAACATTACATGCTCAGCTTGGTTTTGGACAAGCCTGTC2162              CATTGGGCAGGACCTAGCTGTTGTAAAGAATTGGTCTTAATGTTGAATGTATTTTGGTTG2222              CTGATGTTTATAAACTGAGAGGTCACAAAGAATCTATCACTAAAAATTTTTACAAAACTG2282              CCAAAAATATAATTCTTAGTGGAAGACAATACTCCCTTTAAAGAGAGTTTGCCACTCCCC2342              TAAACTCCAGGATTTATAAAGCAAATTACTCCAAGGTTTATAAAGCAGATTACCTCTTGC2402              CCTTGGGTGCTATCTAGCAGTAAAAGATAAATTTGTTGAATATTGGTAATTAAAAGACTC2462              CACATAAGTCCATTAACTGCTTTCCACCCAGCTTCAAAGCTTAAAAAGAGCTCAGGCTTT2522              TCCAGGAAGATCCAGGAGGGCTAATTAGAAATCAACTTGTGGTTGACCGCTTGTTTCTTG2582              TTATTACCAAACAGGAGGGGAAAAAATTAACTGCTCCAAATTTAACCATAAATCAATTCA2642              TGTTTAACGTTTCTCATTAAAATCCAGTATTATATTATCATATCTCTCTTTACTTCCCAG2702              TATAAGATTTTTGAAAATCCTGAATAAACCAGTATCGTTACTGGCACCTGAAATTAATTT2762              GTGAATTTGCAACAGTAATCAGAGTTACCATTATTTAATTTGTATGCTAAATGAGGAGGT2822              ACATTGAAACCCTCCAAATCTCCAGTCTCATCTATGTCATATTTTGCCACTGCCTTTCAG2882              AAGTGATTTAGTTGTGGAAAGATAATAAATTGATTTGTTATGGTTACATATTTAGCGCAC2942              CCAGAGAAAATTAATTATATTTCTACAGAGAAAATGAATTTGGGATACTAAAGTAGTTTA3002              AGTCTCCTTTACTGAATGTAAGGGGGGGATCGAAAAGAAGGTATTTTTCCAATCACAGTG3062              TTATGTAGTATTGTTCTATTTTTGTTTACAAACATGGAAAACAGAGTATTTCTGGCAGCT3122              GTGGTACAAATGTGATAATATATTGCTAAAATATTTTAGATGTTATTATGCTAATATAGT3182              AGGGGTTGAAGAAAACAAAATAGCTTATTATAGAATTGCACATAGTTCTGCCCAAATTAT3242              GTGAAATGCTTATGCTTGTGTATATGTATAAATTAATACAGAGTACGTTAAAAGCAAAAA3302              GATGTATATTTGCATATTTTTCTAAAGAAATATATTATTCATCTTTTCATTCAAAAAAAA3362              AAAAAAAGAGCTCAATTCCCGGGGATCC3390                                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:27:                                             (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                 (A) LENGTH: 477 amino acids                                                   (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                          (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                          (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                   (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:27:                                      MetArgPheThrPheThrSerArgCysLeuAlaLeuPheLeuLeuLeu                              151015                                                                        AsnHisProThrProIleLeuProAlaPheSerAsnGlnThrTyrPro                              202530                                                                        ThrIleGluProLysProPheLeuTyrValValGlyArgLysLysMet                              354045                                                                        MetAspAlaGlnTyrLysCysTyrAspArgMetGlnGlnLeuProAla                              505560                                                                        TyrGlnGlyGluGlyProTyrCysAsnArgThrTrpAspGlyTrpLeu                              65707580                                                                      CysTrpAspAspThrProAlaGlyValLeuSerTyrGlnPheCysPro                              859095                                                                        AspTyrPheProAspPheAspProSerGluLysValThrLysTyrCys                              100105110                                                                     AspGluLysGlyValTrpPheLysHisProGluAsnAsnArgThrTrp                              115120125                                                                     SerAsnTyrThrMetCysAsnAlaPheThrProGluLysLeuLysAsn                              130135140                                                                     AlaTyrValLeuTyrTyrLeuAlaIleValGlyHisSerLeuSerIle                              145150155160                                                                  PheThrLeuValIleSerLeuGlyIlePheValPhePheArgLysAla                              165170175                                                                     LeuSerLeuGlyCysGlnArgValThrLeuHisLysAsnMetPheLeu                              180185190                                                                     ThrTyrIleLeuAsnSerMetIleIleIleIleHisLeuValGluVal                              195200205                                                                     ValProAsnGlyGluLeuValArgArgAspProValSerCysLysIle                              210215220                                                                     LeuHisPhePheHisGlnTyrMetMetAlaCysAsnTyrPheTrpMet                              225230235240                                                                  LeuCysGluGlyIleTyrLeuHisThrLeuIleValValAlaValPhe                              245250255                                                                     ThrGluLysGlnArgLeuArgTrpTyrTyrLeuLeuGlyTrpGlyPhe                              260265270                                                                     ProLeuValProThrThrIleHisAlaIleThrArgAlaValTyrPhe                              275280285                                                                     AsnAspAsnCysTrpLeuSerValGluThrHisLeuLeuTyrIleIle                              290295300                                                                     HisGlyProValMetAlaAlaLeuValValAsnPhePhePheLeuLeu                              305310315320                                                                  AsnIleValArgValLeuValThrLysMetArgGluThrHisGluAla                              325330335                                                                     GluSerHisMetTyrLeuLysAlaValLysAlaThrMetIleLeuVal                              340345350                                                                     ProLeuLeuGlyIleGlnPheValValPheProTrpArgProSerAsn                              355360365                                                                     LysMetLeuGlyLysIleTyrAspTyrValMetHisSerLeuIleHis                              370375380                                                                     PheGlnGlyPhePheValAlaThrIleTyrCysPheCysAsnAsnGlu                              385390395400                                                                  ValGlnThrThrValLysArgGlnTrpAlaGlnPheLysIleGlnTrp                              405410415                                                                     AsnGlnArgTrpGlyArgArgProSerAsnArgSerAlaArgAlaAla                              420425430                                                                     AlaAlaAlaAlaGluAlaGlyAspIleProIleTyrIleCysHisGln                              435440445                                                                     GluLeuArgAsnGluProAlaAsnAsnGlnGlyGluGluSerAlaGlu                              450455460                                                                     IleIleProLeuAsnIleIleGluGlnGluSerSerAla                                       465470475                                                                     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What is claimed is:
 1. An isolated polynucleotide molecule whichcomprises a sequence encoding:(a) a human calcitonin receptor having thesequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2, (b) a human calcitonin receptor havingthe sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 25, (c) a naturally occurring allelicvariant of (a) or (b), or (d) a polypeptide comprising the N-terminalligand-binding domain, the first transmembrane domain, and the firstintracellular domain of (a), (b), or (c).
 2. A polynucleotide accordingto claim 1, having the sequence of genomic DNA or a cDNA molecule.
 3. Apolynucleotide according to claim 1, comprising a sequence which encodesthe human calcitonin receptor amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2or SEQ ID NO:
 25. 4. A polynucleotide according to claim 1, comprising asequence which is the same as the coding sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1or the coding sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
 24. 5. A DNA constructcomprising the following operably linked elements:a transcriptionalpromoter; a DNA sequence encoding(a) a human calcitonin receptor havingthe sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
 2. (b) a human calcitonin receptorhaving the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
 25. (c) a naturally occurringallelic variant of (a) or (b), or (d) a polypeptide comprising theN-terminal ligand-binding domain, the first transmembrane domain, andthe first intracellular domain of (a), (b), or (c); and atranscriptional terminator.
 6. A DNA construct according to claim 5,wherein the DNA sequence encodes the human calcitonin receptor aminoacid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO:
 25. 7. A DNA constructaccording to claim 5, comprising the coding sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:1 or the coding sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
 24. 8. A culturedeukaryotic cell transformed or transfected with a DNA construct whichcomprises the following operably linked elements:a transcriptionalpromoter; a DNA sequence encoding(a) a human calcitonin receptor havingthe sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2, (b) a human calcitonin receptorhaving the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
 25. (c) a naturally occurringallelic variant of (a) or (b), or (d) a polypeptide comprising theN-terminal ligand-binding domain, the first transmembrane domain, andthe first intracellular domain of (a), (b), or (c); and atranscriptional terminator.
 9. A eukaryotic cell according to claim 8,which is a mammalian cell.
 10. A eukaryotic cell according to claim 8,which does not express endogenous human calcitonin receptor.
 11. Aeukaryotic cell according to claim 8, wherein the DNA constructcomprises a sequence encoding the human calcitonin receptor amino acidsequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO:
 25. 12. A eukaryotic cellaccording to claim 8, wherein the DNA construct comprises the codingsequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 or the coding sequence shown in SEQ IDNO:
 24. 13. A method for producing a human calcitonin receptorpolypeptide, which comprises the step of culturing eukaryotic cellstransformed or transfected with a DNA construct which comprises thefollowing operably linked elements:a transcriptional promoter; a DNAsequence encoding(a) a human calcitonin receptor having the sequenceshown in SEQ ID NO:
 2. (b) a human calcitonin receptor having thesequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
 25. (c) a naturally occurring allelicvariant of (a) or (b), or (d) a polypeptide comprising the N-terminalligand-binding domain, the first transmembrane domain, and the firstintracellular domain of (a), (b), or (c); and a transcriptionalterminator,under conditions whereby said DNA sequence is expressed. 14.A method according to claim 13, wherein the cells are mammalian cells.15. A method according to claim 13, further comprising the step ofrecovering the human calcitonin receptor polypeptide from the cells. 16.A method according to claim 15, wherein the calcitonin receptorpolypeptide is recovered by affinity purification.